Helping to put shoes on feet and smiles on faces
Did you know that over two million shoes are thrown away every week in the UK? Shoes that many children in Africa would be grateful to wear.
In 2008, Kiwi decided to take their position as shoe care experts more seriously. They collected as many pairs of good quality second hand shoes as possible, and in conjunction with Planet Aid UK, distributed the shoes to children in Africa.
Kiwi recruited 250 UK schools, scout groups and Sure Start centres from across the country, and by October they had successfully collected over 20 000 pairs!
Kiwi also encouraged the children to write letters explaining their experiences whilst wearing their shoes, and why they loved them:
"Hello my name is Andy and I am 9 years old.
The shoes I have donated are the ones that I dearly loved and I played football with them and all kinds of sports with them so I hope you have a wonderful time with them.
I want to be a footballer when I grow up and if that doesn't go well I can always get a job at the theatre selling tickets and popcorn.
I am happy to give you these shoes.
I don't know what I would do without my shoes.
From Andy
PS. I hope you really like my shoes and rock on"
Walk a little taller in their new shoes
The collected shoes then had to be sorted before they could be sent out to Africa. The entire Kiwi marketing team got stuck into the task, all helping out with the hard job of sorting and pairing the shoes. Once completed, the shoes started their long journey from the UK across to Mozambique.
In April 2009, a team from Kiwi went across to Mozambique to assist in distributing the shoes. The team visited many schools and local communities within the Sofala and Manica provinces, where they were greeted by many joyful and happy children, all grateful at the opportunity to be fitted with a new pair of shoes.
A letter Kiwi received says it all:
"Hello. Before studying, I liked shoes a lot. I also liked eating spaghetti. I wanted to go to school but, as an orphan, I had no possibility. Now I was helped and I am studying. I had no shoes, but now I have them, so I thank you so much."