Are your children growing out of their shoes faster than you can keep up with them? Then once the hand-me-downs have reached an end, you can donate the outgrown, worn out or unwanted shoes to Shoe Aid through a collection box at If The Shoe Fits in Corsham.
With at least 280,000 homeless people (10,000 living on the streets) having no shoes or shoes that are falling to pieces, Shoe Aid is a UK charity with a mission to reduce footwear poverty and footwear waste, as well as its impact on the environment.
In addition, Shoe Aid works with schools and other educational establishment where there are pupil premium students who do not have functional footwear or footwear not suitable for everyday wear. This doesn’t only include school footwear but footwear for everyday use such as trainers/pumps so that they can take part in school activities, wellingtons or outdoor shoes to go on school trips or shoes for that all-important prom. Shoe Aid will do everything it can to provide footwear ‘Fit for Purpose’
“We have a collection box for Shoe Aid in the shop,” explained Kate Whittingham-Jones, the owner of If The Shoe Fits. “Customers can donate their outgrown or outworn or unwanted shoes. Anything that’s fit for reuse is donated on to those who may not have shoes. Anything that’s not fit for wear is broken down to reuse component parts to reduce landfill.
“The reason we do it is that we are very aware of people in our community or indeed in other countries in the world who suffer from shoe poverty. This is our way or ensuring that we give something back and support those in need.”
If you have shoes to donate, you can find If The Shoe Fits at 5 Martingate, Corsham, SN13 0HL. www.iftheshoefits.shop
To find out more about Shoe Aid, go to www.shoeaid.co.uk