Your shoes were meant for walking

WORLDLY SOLES – Donate your shoes!

Yesterday morning I came back from holidays in Fiji (and yes the weather was amazing and I am already depressed by the cold weather here!) and amongst the eleventy trillion things in my inbox, I thought it would be good to circulate this one around as it is an easy thing we can all contribute to.

While I was away, I was speaking with my boyfriend about how quickly we forget about people around the world who are victims of disaster. A lot of this depends on how much media coverage it gets. I would be surprised if most people knew much about what those in Pakistan are currently going through, or how the people of Haiti are going. Out of sight and out of mind I guess.

There are easy ways to participate and from a HR perspective, perhaps this is something that you workplace can get involved in.

Worldly Soles is an Australian Initiative started by Student Associations in TAFE NSW in 2010.

It works under the umbrella of the NSW Government and as such guarantees delivery of shoes only to people in need in foreign countries.

According to their website they say “we realised in 2009 that a pair of shoes could mean the world to a person in a poor country, we felt a responsibility to take action. A pair of shoes can help someone to find work and give them confidence to take a new “step” in life. 300 million children around the world have never owned a pair of shoes and many suffer foot injuries daily as a result (ie. Children searching for goods in garbage tips to make a living).”

Whether they are runners, sandals, heels or flats, your spare shoes can change someone’s world. World Soles needs your help to collect 50,000 pairs of shoes. A huge target!

All shoes will be donated to children and adults in need in Third World countries, including Haiti, Africa and The Himalayas.

You can drop off your unwanted new or pre-loved shoes to all Libraries and Neighbourhood Service Centres in the City of Sydney council area until January 2011.

Donating one pair of shoes is worth about 3 months of savings to someone in need. It also helps the environment by preventing shoes from ending up in landfill.

For more information about the charity project please go to www.worldlysoles.org