Shoe Aid, STEPPING UP for footwear Poverty this September

There is a place where tens of thousands of men, women, and children, and at least 320,000 homeless people (of whom 10,000 sleep on the streets each night) have no shoes or shoes that are falling to pieces. And that place is the UK.

We are a national charity based in the UK, sourcing and supplying free footwear through a collection and distribution network, so no child or adult needs to go without shoes

Shoe Aid is now creating more awareness throughout STEPTEMBER aimed at schools and organisations to help build and grow its nationwide support. Non-shoe days and wearing odd shoes for school are ways education is helping Shoe Aid. Factories, offices, healthcare, and sports clubs are also following, providing collection bins for staff and customers to make donations on Tuesdays (SHOESDAYS) throughout the month.

There is global footwear poverty with significant implications: 1.5 billion people worldwide are without shoes.

Read more:

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• Rough sleeping in England soars by 20% in just a year: ‘It’s a red alert warning’

We have donated over 10,000 shoes since 2017 to homeless charities across the UK, St Mungo’s, Hidden Homeless, Leeds Birmingham City Mission, Homeless Health Services Westminster, Barnabus Manchester, and Action for Homeless Liverpool.

With over 2 million shoes thrown into landfills every week, Shoe Aid is helping to avoid an environmental disaster for shoe manufacturers and distributors; in the same way, supermarkets are currently getting blamed for food waste. 

Shoe Aid is tackling the problem through the education of over 25,000 people in business and schools on the importance of recycling and repurposing footwear.

We are reducing the number of items of footwear being thrown away into landfill by increasing shoe donations through supporters of the charity, with collection points and support from the retail sector to repurpose, seconds, returns, end of line and sample footwear. 

These items are shipped directly to Shoe Aid on a weekly basis. They are checked, cleaned, and stored ready for distribution. We still need to work with commercial and retail partners as we want to stop as many items of footwear from ending their life in landfill. 

Shoe Aid is not a dumping ground for shoes; on the contrary, we need items that are ‘fit for purpose’. It is unlikely that what we do as a charity would impact any brand’s market activities or sales. In fact, Shoe Aid has had a positive impact by increasing footfall to many footwear retailers. 

Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers should see Shoe Aid as a medium for reducing shoe waste, impacting the environment, and helping to change lives, in particular those who live on the streets.

Finding homes for the footwear is a proactive activity the charity is proud of. We approach other charities and community organisations offering donations and provide a simple method of gaining access to footwear. 

The organisation provides a list of needs and shoe aid supplies, these are either new or used (fit or purpose) footwear items. On occasion, we supply a full range of footwear items, including formal shoes, everyday shoes, trainers, outdoor shoes, Wellingtons, and safety footwear in size sets.

We have a manifesto:

• We believe that it is wrong that millions of unwanted shoes end up in landfill, almost 2 million every week, which is as much an environmental disaster as it is a tragic waste.
• It is wrong that tens of thousands of people do not have functional shoes, which is damaging to foot health, academic potential, and self-esteem, not just now, but later in life. 
• It is wrong that 10,000 homeless people do not have access to warm, sturdy footwear. As a result, trench foot still exists on the streets of the UK. We cannot continue to ignore the problem. There is a solution, and that is why Shoe Aid was created.

We are asking for people to donate something that they all have at home and no longer use or need. There are collection boxes at many high street locations, making it easier for people to donate.

Anyone can help Shoe Aid to help others; we are accessible to organisations wanting support through an online email request. Donate your unwanted footwear, and you can help raise funds to cover our operational costs by donating through PayPal and online during STEPTEMBER.

Andy Hughes has been CEO of Shoe Aid UK since 2020.

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