Local people asked to help national shoe charity’s campaign

The STEPTEMBER campaign, run by Shoe Aid UK, aims to bring shoe poverty into sharp focus through a series of Shoedays.

On each Tuesday in September, people are encouraged to join in by wearing no shoes or odd shoes or something similar, to highlight the importance of having 'fit for purpose' footwear.

Andy Hughes, CEO of the charity founded in 2017, said: “You can be as creative as you like, bake a cake in the shape of a shoe or lots of little cakes or biscuits in the shapes of shoes. Whatever creative idea you come up with, what we are asking is for you to show your support for Shoe Aid as we tackle footwear poverty here in the UK and abroad.

“From as little as a £1 donation, we can supply a suitable and fit for purpose piece of footwear to help someone to find a new job, for everyday general wear and use, to take part in sport or a pair of work boots.

“Poverty is neither part-time, full-time, volunteer, nor just a certain day of the week. Soon, children will be returning to school, some of them will not have a suitable pair of shoes to wear or a pair of trainers to take part in physical activity.”

Shoe Aid is already stepping up to help schools throughout the country, providing suitable footwear for children whose families cannot afford school shoes for their child.

At least 280,000 homeless people (10,000 living on the streets) in the UK have no shoes or shoes that are falling to pieces.

Over two million shoes are thrown into landfill every week. On average, one pair of shoes takes upwards of one thousand years to biodegrade (synthetic fibres and textiles). Shoe Aid is helping to avoid an environmental disaster for shoe manufacturers and distributors.

The charity has also provided education to over 25,000 people in more than one thousand organisations on the importance of recycling and repurposing footwear, while distributing tens of thousands of shoes to over fifteen countries worldwide.

Andy added: “Shoe Aid has volunteers who help sort and clean donated footwear in readiness. However, to help more people and organisations – Shoe Aid needs to operate ‘Full Time’ to meet the needs and demands of men, women, children, and families who do not have suitable footwear to part in everyday life.

“Organising and taking part in events on a Tuesday in September will help Shoe Aid raise vital funds to combat footwear poverty. Our service is free, however, running Shoe Aid is not. Every item of footwear that Shoe Aid collects and donates can change lives, not just now but in the future too.”

“If you or your company, school, college or university, community enterprise would like to STEP UP for Shoe Aid, we would love you to get in touch, organise a collection or donate your surplus or returned stock.

Locally, donations can be dropped off at: Wards Shoes in King Street, Belper and Matlock Street, Bakewell, or by contacting Andy at: [email protected] or on 07511 983508.

More about Shoe Aid can be found here: www.shoeaid.co.uk