Congratulations to our founders Pete and Steve Fleming who have been appointed Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List (2024) for Services to Sport for Social Change in Lesotho.
The following is a statement by the Flemings regarding the award.
The journey with Kick4Life officially started in November 2005, when the charity was founded, and it symbolically began in May of that year when we completed our 250 mile football dribble across Malawi. But, in truth, it is rooted much further back, in our childhood garden in Radway Road, on Southampton Common and in the school playgrounds and playing fields of our home city. That’s where our love of sport began, charging after footballs and swinging cricket bats, and forging friendships which last to this day. I don’t think those young lads ever imagined that it would lead to a moment like this, being appointed Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours List for Services to Sport for Social Change in Lesotho.
Kick4Life has been the adventure of a lifetime! To build an organisation that uses football to transform young lives has been a privilege, and to have the chance to pursue so many creative directions, in such a beautiful country as Lesotho, has ensured it could never possibly be a chore. But, to borrow a quote from Steve’s book Radical Football, which tells the Kick4Life story, ‘without people to share the adventure with, it would have felt empty’, and indeed, from the outset, Kick4Life has been a community, and one that has never stopped growing. And so, in receiving an individual accolade, we must acknowledge the vital contributions that so many people have made towards the success and impact of Kick4Life.
Claire and Susie have been beside us every step of the way, through the many happy days with K4L, and through the inevitable challenges, as have our parents, wider families and friends. We have been faithfully guided and supported by our incredible board members in Lesotho, the UK and the USA, and hundreds of K4L staff, volunteers & players – past and present – in Lesotho and around the world, have dedicated their energy and talent, and in some instances, many years of their lives, to our shared mission. There have been so many fundraisers, taking on various gruelling endeavours to raise much needed funds, and the awesome Kick4Life All Stars whose enduring enthusiasm and friendship has been a constant source of encouragement. We are so grateful to everyone who has donated and who continues to donate, and to the many partner organisations, in Lesotho and internationally, that have supported and collaborated with K4L – thank you for believing in us, for helping us to learn from our mistakes and for enabling us to turn our ideas and ambitions into reality and social impact.
We also thank the wonderful Basotho people as a whole, for welcoming us so warmly when we first visited Lesotho, for buying into our vision of utilising the nation’s love of football to transform young lives, and for being our friends and teammates in pursuing that vision in the years that have followed.
In due course, we look forward to celebrating and formally marking this moment, but more than anything this recognition is a motivation to press on with our work, and to accelerate our collective efforts at Kick4Life in using sport for social change in the Mountain Kingdom. We kick on!
