We’re all helping out from home…
If you have unwanted shoes…
Not long after my son, Sal, now 10, started walking, I accumulated a bag of his outgrown, but not outworn, shoes. I wanted those shoes to find their way to new feet, so I sent them to a pal who was volunteering at a hospital in Zambia.
When she sent me photos of the new owners of Sal’s shoes, I felt so pleased, but wanted to help more children.
In November 2013, I launched
CJ BOWRY, 41, FROM SURREY, IS THE FOUNDER OF SAL’S SHOES
Sal’s Shoes. I approached a kid’s play cafe, a primary school and Sal’s nursery and donations flooded in. In the seven years since, we’ve distributed over two million pairs of shoes across 49 countries worldwide.
There has been a marked increase in demand in the UK over the past few years. During the first lockdown alone, we distributed over 15,000 pairs of shoes to young people in the UK. There are 4.2 million children in the UK living in poverty – nine in every classroom of 30 kids.
One headteacher told me he spent 30 minutes in the playground and noticed eight children with flapping shoe soles. Low-earners are seven times more likely to work in sectors affected by lockdown and one in 10 UK families go further into debt to pay for mandatory school uniforms, including shoes.
But, of course, kids haven’t been in school that much this year and it’s not just school shoes we collect. Trainers, sandals, dance shoes – we need them all, in all sizes!
Feet in shoes are protected feet… from the elements, from infection and injury. Every pair makes a huge difference to a child in need.
l salsshoes.com
*Shoes need to be in pairs, clean, with no holes in soles and outgrown but not outworn. Please cover the cost of Sal’s Shoes sending shoes off to meet new feet by including £1 per pair and posting to: Sal’s Shoes, Easistore, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, TN8 6HF