Table tennis is flourishing thousands of miles away thanks to Northamptonshire TTA turning a mistake into a golden opportunity.

The Association ordered new kit for County Championships matches, but when they arrived, they were the wrong colour.

And although new shirts were dispatched at no extra cost, the Association was left with around 40 unwanted shirts.

They decided to give them to a charitable cause and, with help from a contact at the St James’ Barn venue in Biddenham, they were sent to St Nicholas Charity Foundation School in Tema, Ghana.

The Association is now delighted to have heard back from the school, where youngsters are proudly sporting the shirts – and have taken up the sport as well.

Junior coach Kevin Bird, who arranged the donation, said: “The supplier printed them in the wrong colour, which they did free of charge, but it left us with loads of shirts which were the wrong colour and we didn’t know what to do with them.

“It’s fantastic because not only did the school use the shirts, they also decided to source a table, so now they’re playing as well, which is great.”