Shop donates shoes to refugees
Staff at a bespoke children’s shoe shop in Dunblane welcomed more than 50 Ukrainian orphans fleeing the Russian by offering each of them a free pair of fitted footwear.
The youngsters arrived in Scotland last month and were given sanctuary at a base in Callander.
The children, aged between four and 17, as well as nine“house mothers”, were brought to Scotland by the charity Dnipro Kids.
Upon hearing of their arrival, staff at the Ruby Ruby Shoes store, located in Stirling Road, reached out with the generous offer.
Staff member Elaine Robertson said:“it has been tough for all of us watching the news about the atrocities in Ukraine and it is difficult to know what we can do or how we could in any way help.
“We heard on the media about the Ukrainian orphans coming to stay near Callander and Karen
Fletcher, the owner of Ruby Ruby Shoes, decided she wanted to make a little difference for them by donating a completely free pair of fitted children’s shoes to each one of them and all of the group mothers.
“Contact was made with Steven Carr, head of the Dnipro Kids charity, who was delighted to hear of our generous donation and we arranged our first visit on April 3 to measure all 62 pairs of feet.
“We then had a frantic week trying to track down all pairs of shoes, as Karen wanted to make it a special experience for them by giving them a choice.”
Elaine added:“mission accomplished, we headed back out on Friday, April 8, with a team of six of us, including Karen’s 17-year-old son Duncan.
“The language barrier proved to be very challenging but there were interpreters on hand to help us at all times. It was a total delight to see the children’s eyes light up when we opened the boxes and very emotional getting a lot of high fives and cuddles of appreciation from them, with their new shoes safely fitted.
“We would like to say a big thank you to Wendy and Alison from Stirling Council who helped us navigate through this and from all the Ruby Ruby team we wish every child safe travels onwards to their next adventures in Edinburgh.
“This was a huge‘operation’for Ruby Ruby Shoes as we are a small independent children’s shoe shop, but being members of The Society of Shoe Fitters, the health of children’s feet is close to our heart and to be given the opportunity to make a difference to these children meant the world to us.”