In giving back for Mandela Day, learners at St. Andrew’s in Bloemfontein were sorting and packing pre-loved shoes on Thursday (18/7) these shoes will be distributed across Central South Africa and to Lesotho.

The school received 20 000 pairs of pre-loved shoes, trainers, and boots from the Our Shoes charity organisation, in Ireland. The project has been around since before Covid-19, it was officially launched on Wednesday 24 April, and has collaborated with various schools, NPOs, and organisations.

Packing started at 07:30 at Little Saints and will continue until 16:30, later the school’s Interact Committee will also visit Towers of Hope in the afternoon to donate non-perishable food, shoes, and other clothing.

20 000 pairs of pre-loved shoes donated from Ireland. Picture: Zenande Mpame.

“It is lovely to see the number of people in the community that have turned out, both young and old. We are busy packing our shoes for Mandela Day, and giving back to the community,” said St. Andrew’s Headmaster Roland Rudd.

“We have partnered with a charity organisation, Our Shoes in Ireland where children from Ireland have given their shoes that they no longer use, we’ve brought in 20 000 pairs of shoes this year, and the local community also came on board.”

“Today we are busy sorting them out and any organisation or entity that has put in a request, we are also packing their goods today. Both young and old are here, our little guys from Little Saints as well as the old grannies and grandpas are here today packing to make a difference” he said.

Boys from Little Saints assist Mr. Rudd with sorting and packing the shoes. Picture: Zenande Mpame.

When the project was launched in April, Ireland donated 30,000 pairs that have been distributed between Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Johannesburg.

This all started with an idea from former Bloemfontein resident Kevin Grant. After moving to the UK, he wanted to show the beautiful country to a friend he met when he lived there.

The two friends visited one of the more informal settlements in Cape Town. After seeing the state of the children walking to school barefoot, they became disheartened and this sparked the idea to start helping people and children who aren’t fortunate enough to have shoes.

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Grant approached St Andrews headmaster Roland Rudd to assist in the collection and dispersion of shoes as well as to connect with a wider network of people in Bloemfontein and the broader South Africa.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame mvh