Sal’s Shoes, a not-for-profit charitable organisation, has kindly donated 24 pairs of new children’s shoes to Angel Pre School (LEYF) in South Westminster as shoe poverty continues to affect many families living across London.

With further restrictions now in place, potentially for six months, parents are quite rightly concerned about the financial landscape and access to childcare. It is especially frightening for those that are among the 14.5 million people who are living in poverty. The UK is now in one of the worst recession’s in decades and all areas of child poverty are on the rise.

One area of poverty that is often overlooked is shoe poverty. Good quality shoes for children can be too expensive for many families living in poverty. Shoe poverty impacts a child’s self confidence as they can very quickly identity that they don’t have the same quality as their peers.

During the summer, manager at the nursery, Christel Brown noticed that some of the children were wearing winter boots. This prompted her to reach to show companies across Twitter with a request for donations for LEYF’s vulnerable children.

Christel Brown, nursery manager at Angel Pre-School in South Westminster (LEYF) said:

‘We are so grateful for the shoe donation from Sal’s Shoes which has made many children from disadvantaged backgrounds extremely happy. I recently had a parent explaining that she wants her child to return back to nursery but needed to wait for her benefits to arrive so that she could buy some clothes for her daughter to wear. This highlights the extend of the issue and why we must all do our bit for children most in need.’

June O’Sullivan, CEO of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) added:

‘We know from the latest report by The Food Foundation that the UK’s poorest households struggle to afford to meet the Government’s recommended guidelines on a healthy diet, so you can imagine many families have very little money left over for other essentials such as new clothing and shoes. It’s absurd to think that shoe poverty is a reality in one of the world’s richest countries and that we have to rely on the generosity of brilliant charities such as Sal’s Shoes for vital help.’

LEYF is still appealing for more new shoe donations. Please contact [email protected] for more information.