Inside the 'shoebank' that has sent out 150,000 pairs of used footwear to kids in need

Sal’s Shoes has distributed footwear in the UK for some years, ever like this before. As CJ explains, they have seen demand rocket as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, supplying a record number of pairs this summer

Eight-year-old Ben’s writing slopes downwards in neat felt tip. “Hope you like the shoes – my feet are not too smelly – love Ben.”

Another note, attached to a pair of black Adidas football boots, reads: “These boots have scored goals, kicked corners, tackled and had lots of fun. Happy footballing – love Jane.” Yet another, stuck to a sturdy but tiny pair of outgrown school shoes, says simply – “To a friend”.

The messages at Sal’s Shoes are like little love letters from one pair of feet to the next. From one welly-wearer or plimsoll-owner to its new owner, and from one future Lioness to another. Britain’s first ‘shoebank’ has sent out over 180,000 pairs of shoes across the UK in the last 12 months.

More than 150,000 pre-loved pairs, sent in by schoolchildren and their families, and 30,000 new shoes for school, paid for by donations. The messages left in return are both heart-breaking and heart-warming. “I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. My little girl was walking around with broken shoes, and I simply can’t afford new ones so I had been gluing them back together all the time,” one parent writes.

“My eldest daughter is on the heart transplant list so she is not able to go to school, but I hope and pray that she will be able to wear her pair soon. My gratitude for your help and kindness is beyond what I can describe. Thank you.” With the start of term just a weekend away, the Sal’s Shoes warehouse in Kent is a hive of activity – with shoes being sent from Crawley to Camarthen and Barnet to Bolton.

“It feels like panic stations this week, as people are suddenly realising they can’t afford to kit their kids out,” says the charity’s founder CJ Bowry. “More and more people are living hand to mouth, there’s no breathing room and not enough extra money to buy these things.

“We’ve sent out over 30,000 pairs of new shoes in the last 12 months – school shoes, wellies and PE trainers – that’s 30,000 kids whose families couldn’t afford school footwear. Whilst we predominantly collect and redistribute preloved footwear, our School Shoes Fund gives students that extra spring in their step when they go to school. It’s about confidence and dignity.”

CJ set up Sal’s Shoes in 2013 after being unable to find a charity to take her toddler son’s outgrown shoes. Ten years later one boy’s shoes have led to an incredible five million pairs of outgrown footwear collected and donated to kids in 60 countries across the globe – and kept out of landfill.

Sal’s Shoes has always distributed shoes in the UK, but never, ever like this before. As CJ explains, they have seen demand rocket as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, supplying a record number of pairs this summer. "We’ve been going for 10 years and while we’ve always worked in the UK it’s never been on this scale,” CJ says. “I can’t tell you how horrifying it is, that this is happening here, one of the richest countries in the world.”

The charity supplies shoes via schools, baby banks, food banks and domestic violence refuges, as well as via outlets that resemble ordinary stores. “Shoe shopping used to be an exciting experience, a childhood ritual,” CJ says. “We want to try and make that possible. At this time of year social media is full of photos of children in their smart, back-to-school gear – it’s very hard to ignore that for parents unable to afford school uniform and footwear.

“When you’re living with poverty, choice is one of the first things to go. We want to give people that choice, that sense of dignity.” Despite planning ahead, the team have still found themselves up against it. “We’ve been sending shoes out to schools since Easter, so they’d be ready for September,” CJ says. “As a result, I didn’t think August would be so busy – but it’s been busier than ever.

“In the past, in the UK, people could buy a cheaper, affordable pair of school shoes from a supermarket for £20. Yes, they would probably need to be replaced, but you could buy them. The problem now is that people simply don’t have that £20, so what do they do?

“We’re at the start of a really long, hard road. The new term, colder weather – winter coats are another big expense. Last year we were hearing from schools in central London where kids were coming to school in dressing gowns – as that was the only extra, warm layer they had. We know that baby banks were giving out more fleecy, all-in-one items, to keep people warm in unheated houses.

“And children were arriving at school hungry, or their parents weren’t eating to make sure they ate. It’s a really, really desperate situation and surely we have a responsibility as humans to help if we can – to make sure that at the very least, kids are clothed, fed and warm?

“That should be a given but sadly it isn’t for a lot of families right now, these things are beyond reach. We are expecting another wave of demand later in September – from schools where children have shoes that don’t fit or are worn out or broken. It shouldn’t be like this.”

Sal’s Shoes volunteers like to quote the Ben Affleck film Air, which told the story behind the iconic Nike trainers, Air Jordans – “A shoe is just a shoe, until someone steps into it”. The testimonies they receive bear this out. One letter, from The Mill Primary Academy in Crawley, West Sussex, says: “As soon as he put his new shoes on, he grew several centimetres taller, and couldn’t wait to show his parents his new, smart shoes.”

Another reads: “One pupil who previously didn’t take care of his appearance changed as soon as he got his new shoes. He has worn a smart uniform ever since and is taking pride in his appearance now.” But it’s the notes that come from the recipients that keep the whole exhausted team sorting shoes, packing boxes and organising deliveries across the UK. Knowing every pair will soon be walking again.

“Thank you so much,” reads one note from a parent who had received two pairs of children’s shoes with an emergency clothing parcel. I received these beautiful bags through my social worker, and I just sobbed and sobbed – the relief was incredible, that I could dress my girls and those shoes just set me off totally. I had this overwhelming urge just to thank the people that put our parcel together. It really means more to me than I can say.”

* To donate scan the QR code or post a cheque made out to Sal’s Shoes to: Sal’s Shoes, Easistore, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6HF. To see how to donate shoes visit salsshoes.com

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: CLAIRE DONNELLY

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