Sal's Shoes

Today was our last core team shoe sorting session en masse before the festivities. Our core team of volunteers donate their time and efforts throughout the year, so our Christmas gift to them 🎁 is their time back for the next few weeks. We continue to operate on a more ad hoc basis hosting corporate groups and welcoming smaller visiting volunteer groups. Today we suggested Christmas jumpers . . . because they’re Team Sal’s Shoes and they rock, they obviously took it one step further 😂♥️🙌🏽

It’s a yay for your preloved Crocs day! Sal’s Shoes have been finding their new feet in Accra, Ghana 🇬🇭 thanks to Akwaaba Volunteers

This #givingtuesday we’re grateful. For your giving of shoes, your time and efforts, and the monetary donations you make. We’re thankful for your spreading of the Sal’s Shoes story on social media. This week your Sal’s Shoes are finding their new feet in Nicaragua 🇳🇮 Your giving enables our gifting - the gift of a pair of shoes to a child in need. So many of us take putting on a pair of shoes for granted. Too many of us can’t afford to.

We do the easy part. We unpack and sort and send out your donated Sal’s Shoes. The real effort is in fitting them and finding them their new feet. The Feed The Hungry Nicaragua team are in Los Nubes 🇳🇮 We’re so grateful to the team on the ground for all their hard work. And for the time and the care that they’re taking in ensuring your Sal’s Shoes find the correct feet 👣 Because we do what we do, and then they make sure that it’s done properly 🫶🏽 Feed The Hungry UK

Feet in shoes are protected from injury and infection. And in areas of low sanitation, the spread of infection 👣 Thanks to the efforts of the Feed The Hungry Nicaragua team, your Sal’s Shoes have been finding their new feet amongst the communities living in Las Brisas, Bella Vista and Ciudad Sandino in Nicaragua 🇳🇮 Feed The Hungry UK

5/5 We have a Friday Favour to ask We believe the vast majority of people want to do good But don’t always get round to it Life is busy But we also believe that if you give people a direct opportunity to help make a positive difference, the chances are, if they’re in a position to, they will 🤞🏽 You can gift a child in need somewhere in the U.K. 🇬🇧 a pair of new shoes - and we’ve tried to make it as easy and simple a process as possible. You can buy a pair of shoes from our Amazon wishlist and have it delivered directly to us, or alternatively make a monetary donation so that we can do the purchasing - with the contacts we’ve built up, the more pairs of shoes we’re in a position to buy, the cheaper it is and the more we can purchase. And the more children in need of a pair of shoes we’re able to reach. Amazon Wishlist: https://lnkd.in/eanRDEQZ? Donate via Enthuse: salsshoes.enthuse.com Donate via PayPal: paypal.me/salsshoes

4/5 Second hand shoes, unlike second hand clothes, more often than not will look worn. To a child receiving a pair of preloved Sal’s Shoes in a village in a remote part of the world, when all of their peers are receiving them too, this won’t matter so much. But for a child wearing second hand shoes here in the U.K., alongside friends wearing sparkly new ones, it is a different story and a different type of need. And there’s no doubting that extra spring in your step when you have on a new pair of shoes. That sense of confidence and pride that a younger person especially, will feel. This is why the vast majority of shoes which we distribute in the U.K. are either donations of brand new shoes, or donations of preloved shoes in nearly new condition. U.K. demand for our footwear is incredibly high, and we are especially grateful for these new donations. In the last year we have distributed over 300,000 pairs of shoes nationwide 🇬🇧. That’s over 150,000 more pairs than we sent out to children in need across this country the year before. And that’s not including the 56,000+ pairs of new shoes for school that we’ve sent out nationwide during the last year. Over 26,000 more pairs than the preceding 12 months. Friday is 5/5 and we have a favour to ask . . .

3/5 The 1951 Refugee Convention is a legal document and defines a refugee as: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” They cannot return to their country without risking their life or freedoms. There is an international agreement to protect refugees. 149 countries have agreed to protect refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention. This agreement was introduced following the events of World War Two, when many people fled persecution and conflict in Europe. Despite how much has changed over the years, the underlying principles of refugee protection remain as relevant as before. An asylum seeker is someone who is also seeking international protection from dangers in their home country, but whose claim for refugee status hasn’t been determined legally. Asylum seekers must apply for protection in the country of destination—meaning they must arrive at or cross a border in order to apply. Seeking asylum is a universal human right. The right for refugees to seek asylum in another country is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Asylum support rates are currently set at £49.18 per person per week or £7 a day to cover essential living needs like food, travel, clothing and communications. They are set at £8.86 for those in full board accommodation. Feet in shoes are protected feet. Feet protected from injury and infection. Each of our feet has 26 bones, 33 joints, and a network of nerves and blood vessels. Our feet also have more than 100 muscles and tendons and ligaments. We need to protect them, and to look after them.

2/5 Shoes are essential. We all put them on before we leave the house to keep our feet safe at work, and at play. And during these winter months, to keep our feet dry and warm. Our feet are the foundation of our bodies. We spend a lot of time on them each day. And young feet are active. You know that feeling when you have an ill-fitting pair of shoes on, and your feet hurt, and it’s all you can think about? That’s why it’s so important that children go to school in footwear that both fits correctly, and is comfortable, so that they can concentrate on enjoying all of the important elements of their day.

1/5 We’re planning on asking you a favour this coming Friday. We thought we’d build up to it. So that there’s food for thought behind your decision when we ask. This week we’re going to share a small selection of emails we’ve received. We receive similar daily, from the organisations we work with in this country 🇬🇧 A lot of these organisations never used to receive loads of requests for footwear, from the families they help support. And those that they did, they were able to fulfill with donations received from their local communities. This has changed drastically over the last few years. We now receive emails daily from the organisations we work with, who can’t keep up with the demand for footwear they’re receiving. So we send them shoes, and keep them stocked up. And they pass them on to those children most in need. Poverty is relative and we’re realistic about that. The need here is different to that in many of the other countries we work in. The vast majority of footwear we send out in the U.K. is brand new or if second hand, in nearly new condition. We receive donations of new shoes from individuals and companies. And we use monetary donations to purchase certain types of footwear like new school shoes and trainers as part of our School Shoes Fund for children here in the U.K. Our partners include nursery, primary and secondary schools. Social services, homeless shelters, and housing associations. Baby banks and food banks, and domestic violence refuges, and refugee and asylum seeker centres.