Words John Edwards | Picture Jonathan Moore

Altrincham's fame has spread far and wide over the years, with the celebrated Cup giantkillers of yesteryear making national headlines and a concerted challenge for promotion to the Football League keeping us in the spotlight more recently.

There's a long list of managers and players who can be credited with making Alty's name known throughout the land, but Robins fans are now being given the chance to spread the word even further afield.

All the way to Africa, in fact.

Cheshire-based Multiflex School Sports are setting off next week on a fortnight-long expedition to Kenya and have appealed to Alty supporters to make it even more special for the children they will be visiting by donating football shirts old or relatively new at Saturday's Vanarama National League fixture with Braintree Town.

They don't have to be Alty shirts - the young recipients in Njoro will be thrilled to don any team's colours - but Robins tops of any vintage will be worn with pride, according to organisers, and will doubtless lead to interest in our fortunes extending further than ever.

With the party from Multiflex School Sports flying to Kenya in a week's time, this Saturday's 3pm kick-off at The J.Davidson Stadium represents the final opportunity for Alty fans to play their part in guaranteeing the success of a venture that is all about strengthening ties and enriching the lives of local schoolchildren who are, almost without exception, mad about football.

"It's something that's very close to my heart, having visited Kenya 12 years ago as part of the project," Alty coach Ross Speight said. "It was an unbelievable experience to go and work out there and see how sport can impact children and adults on the other side of the world and what an amazing influence football has on everyone.

"The work that Mark Webb and everyone at Multiflex does is second-to-none in the Cheshire area and abroad and I'm really happy Alty are able to support a brilliant cause and the local community will get behind it."

Your gift will put a smile on a child's face, so, if you possibly can, please bring a shirt along to Saturday's game and leave it in a basket that will be positioned by the pop-up shop in the Community Sports Hall.

Every single one will be added to the luggage that is loaded on to next Wednesday's Kenya-bound jet and will subsequently be presented to a lucky pupil at one of the six primary schools the group are spending time with in Njoro, an agricultural town 18km south west of Nakuru.

It's the 14th time in the last 16 years that Multiflex Schools Sport have visited Kenya as part of a long-running school partnership project, and thousands of local children will benefit from tuition in football, rugby, dance, dodgeball and cricket during their two-week stay.

The more fortunate will also have a treasured souvenir in the form of a football shirt from one English team or another, and organisers are hoping Alty will be well represented in the various school playgrounds staging the daily ritual of impromptu kick-arounds by the time they have finished.