Give shoes more mileage

Kids grow out of their shoes pretty fast, and lots of parents are left with draws full of shoes that still have lots of walking capacity left in them. On the flip side to that, there are 300 million children in the world for whom walking with shoes is a rarity. That is why the Little Kickers Cyprus, pre-school football programme, will be collecting all your kids’ old shoes throughout October and donating them to Sal’s Shoes.

Sal’s Shoes is a not-for-profit organisation in the UK that collects pairs of shoes and distributes them to a number of countries where children are not fortunate enough to own shoes.

Speaking about the month-long collection, the programme’s director of operations Charoulla Neocleous said “we are lucky to have over 500 children come through our doors every week and we wanted to support this lovely charity by donating pre-loved shoes to children in need.”

Shoes must be in good condition and tied together with a rubber band.

There will also be a collection box for shoes at Breakfast at Teafunny’s on Limassol avenue, during working hours,  from 9am until 9pm.

The programme is also running the event Little Kickers Goes Pyjamas from October 17 to 23, during which the kids  and the coaches show up for lessons in their pyjamas and pay a penalty of one euro. It is all a bit of fun for a good cause. The money collected during this week will go towards replacing all the sofas and reclining couches at the Makarios hospital, so that parents with children kept in hospital will have a more comfortable place to sleep. Even if your children do not take part in any of the academy’s classes, you can still contribute when you go to take over the shoes your children have grown out of.

Sals Shoes Collection
Collection of old shoes for children to go to the Sal’s Shoes organisation. October 1-30. Little Kickers, Limassol Avenue, Nicosia (behind Kapnos). Monday-Thursday: 3pm-6pm. Friday: 5pm-6pm. Saturday: 8am-12.30pm. Sunday: 9am-12.30pm. Tel: 70-000802

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.