We’ve teamed up with footwear charity Shoe Aid in a new initiative that aims to help the environment, as well as under-privileged children, by encouraging parents to donate their children’s old or unwanted shoes.
The campaign will support Shoe Aid’s goal of reducing shoe poverty and footwear waste, and its impact on the environment, by limiting the number of shoes that are put into landfill each year. In addition, Shoe Aid is also providing shoes for children who, either don’t have access to suitable footwear, or help parents who can’t afford correctly fitted shoes.
Start-Rite and Shoe Aid branded recycling points have been set up across the country in Start-Rite stockists where families can easily donate their unwanted shoes, helping to reduce the number of shoes that end up in landfill.
Start-Rite Shoes CEO, Kate Tansley, said: “With thousands of children wearing ill-fitting shoes in the UK, we are calling on parents and guardians to donate to an extremely worthy cause. The figures are hugely concerning, and it is more important than ever that we all do our bit to help those less fortunate, not to mention the environment. And, it really couldn’t be easier, simply pop them in the shoe collection box in store!”
Shoe Aid Founder Lee Todd said: “We spend a great deal of time educating children on the importance of recycling and re-using old and unwanted footwear. We’re delighted to have Start-Rite on board to support us in this challenge and help raise awareness of shoe poverty that affects millions of children both in the UK and across the world”.
Donating couldn’t be easier. Just pop into one of our participating stores and leave your unwanted shoes in the collection box. If you have a large amount of shoes, you can contact Shoe Aid directly to find out how best to send your donation.
Don’t have any old shoes lying around but still want to donate? Shoe Aid also accepts monetary donations to help with the running of the charity so they can continue to do good work in years to come.
Shoe Aid accepts all types of shoes - men’s, women’s, children’s, sports shoes, safety footwear, wellies and more. Please make sure your donations are still wearable - anything without holes that can still be worn without causing injury to the wearer will be a great help to someone in need. Plus, you don’t need to have the box the shoes came in - the shoes alone are all that’s needed.
To read more about the great work this charity does, visit their website www.shoeaid.co.uk.
