| Your shoes: what they can buy | - Six pairs gets an exercise book
- 69 pairs will pay for a first aid kit
- 109 pairs will pay for baby scales
- 280 pairs will get seeds for food
- 330 pairs gets a bicycle for a Community Worker
- 1,156 pairs builds a water pump
- 22,482 pairs builds an entire Children's Corner
Shoe Biz runs until October 2007. For more info, ring Interaction on 0161 244 4321 |
Just before Christmas, our friends at Blue Peter launched the Shoe Biz appeal to help AIDS orphans in Malawi. The Manchester Harley Owners' Club (HOC) were so moved by the appeal that they decided to put their no nonsense hard-edged biker image aside for a few months to help the Blue Peter appeal. Putting the boot in While most of us might donate a few pairs of shoes, the HOC went hell-for-leather. They enlisted the help of other motorbike clubs, plus 40 staff at BAe Systems, Samlesbury and the Rufford Village Hall Women’s Institute. Over the course of three months they collected more than 280 pairs!
 | | Linda Kaye gets in gear... |
Rob Lea, President of the Manchester HOC said: "We’re all Blue Peter kids, so we wanted to do something well for Blue Peter and UNICEF. This appeal has touched everybody from my daughter, who’s ten, to a friend of ours in the village who’s 75. It’s been a really good communal effort. "We’ve all got shoes at home, it’s easy and a good chance to get rid of everything. We remember collecting badges and stamps and tins when we were kids, it’s about time we gave something back." Children’s Corners Malawi, one of the planet’s poorest countries, has also been blighted by AIDS which has left many children orphans. The problem has become so acute that UNICEF has introduced 'Children’s Corners', where orphaned children can be looked after by community volunteers and workers. The Appeal takes your old shoes in for recycling so that the money generated can buy books, foods, water pumps and other resources for the Children’s Corners. | "We’re all Blue Peter kids.. we remember collecting badges and stamps and tins when we were kids, it’s about time we gave something back." | | Rob Lea, President of the Manchester Harley Owners' Club |
CSV Producer Linda Kaye has been really impressed with the public reaction: "We’ve already had a huge response, it must be getting on for 1,000 pairs now. We've had large donations from local schools and businesses in the area, all of which are massively appreciated. She continues: "The Manchester HOC and their friends have really done well with their effort and we’d just like to thank them and everyone else involved in donating to this appeal." How to donate Please don't bring your shoes to the BBC: bundle them together and deposit them at any participating Clarks shoe store. The appeal runs until October 2007. For donations over 20 pairs, call BBC Radio Manchester Interaction on 0161 244 4321 and we’ll point you in the direction of your nearest Shoe Biz collection point.
 | | A fantastic contribution by the HOC |
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