OUR WORK
AT OUR SHOES, What we do IS VERY SIMPLE. WE HELP YOU, HELP OTHERS.
We connect your acts of kindness with those most in need a world away so that everyone can have the gift of opportunity.
Our Shoes was set up in 2019 after Ciarán McHugh, Kevin Grant and Geoff Lockwood visited the Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, home to 2.4 million people. Our Shoes ran two pilot appeals which saw the donation of 15,000 pairs of sports shoes which had outlived their intended use in Ireland, but which still have lots of life left in them.
Since 2022, we have run yearly national campaign across Ireland, collecting more than 50,000 pairs of shoes. Our 2026 campaign opens for registrations on the 1st of March.
Tim Human, General Manager, CATCH TRUST
Today our charity is striving to ensure we can collect as many donations of no longer needed, but in good condition sports shoes from all over Ireland.
With the help of our corporate partners we ship thousands of shoes to Southern Africa where they are distributed to some of the most deserving kids in the townships.
WHY SHOES?
A pair of shoes is often the difference between a hopeful or bleak future.
Because shoes are more than something that keep your feet safe and warm.
Like most countries, you need shoes to go to school in South Africa. Along with shoes being part of the school uniform, they also allow learners safety and provide a sense of self-esteem and dignity.
Shoes are often the most difficult item to get in materially poor communities.
WHO DO WE WORK WITH?
We work with any individuals that have shoes to donate, be it a family, sports club, or business. Most of all we work with schools.
Why are schools so engaged with the appeal? It allows them to promote giving, from one child to another, and gratitude for what we have.
In some schools, Student Councils, comprising of kids 6 to 12 years old, ran the entire campaign, enabled by their teachers who wanted to empower them to work together for the benefit of others.
In many cases the appeal has been used as a sort of platform to promote a more general educational focus on African themes and the developing world.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
By giving your shoes an extended second life in Africa, it's not just kids in townships that get the chance of a more hopeful future.
Because of all of the different types of synthetic materials need to produce a pair of sports shoes they are nearly impossible to recycle.
They have a huge carbon footprint and by donating them to kids in townships, you are taking a small step towards a better future for us all
HOW DO I DONATE SHOES?
Our Shoes aims to launch shoe collection campaigns at least once a year.
Click here to see if a campaign is live or happening soon in your area. If there is no confirmed date for your area, you can join our mailing list and keep your shoes safe until our next campaign.
Where do the donated shoes go?
Once the donated shoes arrive in Cape Town, it's only the beginning of their second extended life.
On arriving at the seaport they are picked up by one of our main African charity partners, the CATCH Trust who begin the process of ensuring the distribution of the shoes is directed to some of the neediest kids in the townships. Some go directly to the biggest township, Khayelitsha, where the idea for Our Shoes was first born.
Many more are allocated to a large national network of well-respected schools with a history of excellence throughout South Africa. Here again, they are given out to kids in local townships; and made available to local sports clubs and other in-need not-for-profit institutions, on an application basis.
How do we continue to support growing feet?
At Our Shoes we are striving to ensure a continuous and regular supply of pre-loved shoes from country to country, child to child, year to year; making sure the same children are looked after and provided with the necessary shoes even as they continue to grow.
To meet this challenge, Our Shoes continues to grow and expand, as does our distribution network. Shoes donated in Ireland are now walking the streets of Southern Africa including Colesberg, Nyanga, Oranjekrag, Hangberg and Khayelitsha.
Some of our most recent shipments of shoes were shipped directly to Lesotho for the first time, to a charity using football to support and restore kids whose parents have died from AIDs related illness. All these children need ongoing support.
