Who are you trying to help? What issue are you trying to address?

We collect second hand shoes from our friends and work colleagues, and arrange for them to be sent to Kenya to a former sports coach who trains young people in remote and isolated villages in running. He looks to identify those with abilities and foster them, as well as generally bringing positive activities to the youth of these communities that would otherwise have very little in their lives. Many of the people identified lack even basic training and clothing necessities, particularly shoes. Peter has therefore asked us to try and collect as many second hand and old pairs of shoes as possible – any size, shape, brand, colour, condition, age and smell – from friends and colleagues in Sydney.

What is your project and how will it help?

Our project is called ‘Reuse Shoes’, and aims to work with friends, work colleagues and local communities to collect as many second hand pairs of shoes as possible, to send to our contact in Kenya, for distribution to small and isolated villages.

Specifically, our contact is a former running coach who was based in Sydney, Australia, but now moves from village to village in Central Africa, particularly Kenya, to provide sports training to the young people of those villages. If he identifies athletes with particular skills or talents, he looks to work with his contacts in Kenya and Australia to foster their development as runners and athletes. However, he also simply seeks to bring some positive experiences to these young people, irrespective of skill level or ability, and to promote health, well-being and teamwork amongst these youths.

By providing shoes, he is able to ensure that the people he works with are adequately equipped and protected, and feel good about themselves and their training.

We look to provide the link between the work our contact is doing ‘on the ground’, and the supply of services and goods to support his actions.

How can other people partner with you on your project?

Anyone interested in contributing to our project can contact us on our email address of reuseshoes@gmail.com, or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/reuseshoes2013.

Please detail the resources that you need.

We require air shipment of approximately 2,000 pairs of running shoes (packaged in 1m x 1m crates) from Sydney, Australia, to Kenya. Sea freight is logistically difficult and expensive, so has been ruled out as an option by all interested and concerned parties.