What types of shoes do you accept?

Dr Foot Foundation accepts all types of shoes: athletic, running, dress, sandals, pumps, heels, work boots, cleats, flip flops and dance shoes, just as long as they are new or gently worn. However we would like to focus on children's shoes.

Why do you focus on children shoes?

The challenges facing places like Africa are daunting. For example, One in six African children die before the age of five. Most of these deaths could be prevented. (Source: Africa 2015). Although providing shoes for children in third world countries may not seem like a priority, however this can dramatically affect their quality of life. Over 300 million children world-wide have never had one pair of shoes. Help us change that number with your donation of children's footwear.

Many children walk barefooted in places such as Kenya and Tanzania. Wearing shoes helps prevent the spread of parasitic diseases that plague an estimated billion people worldwide, they are a basic human necessity. The reality of life for many individuals in impoverished parts of Africa, Asia and South America is that shoes are a rarity. It is not uncommon for children to grow up in these areas without ever having had a pair of new shoes - or any shoes at all.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are many hazards associated with going barefoot in contaminated sand, soil and dirty water, but the most obvious public health problem is hookworm disease.  Children without shoes are one of the leading causes of these diseases and it must be stopped. 

Shoes also help prevent strongyloidiasis, podoconiosis and unfilial elephantiasis. In many developing countries where stagnant water is a problem, these diseases are almost a condition of life. Parasites breed in such water, with females releasing 3,000 to 200,000 eggs per day depending on their type. Children sometimes swim in parasite-infested waters and in the absence of suitable drinking water, people may be forced to drink it and use it for cooking purposes. Amongst the poorest of the poor, treatment for parasitic infections becomes a vicious cycle.

Once parasites enter the body, they often perforate the intestines, circulatory system, lungs, liver and other organs, and cause physical trauma. They can lump together in balls and travel into and erode or block the brain, heart and lungs. On occasion, these lumps have been mistaken for cancerous tumours. Parasites also give off metabolic waste products that poison our bodies. Left untreated, the infections they cause can result in the loss of limbs, chronic illness and even death.

Parasitic infections often prevent adults from being able to work and children from being able to attend school. The relationships between illness, access to education, and poverty have been well-documented by organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 

Do you take half pairs?

Yes, we accept half pairs. Hopefully, we can match them up one day!

Can I choose a specific country or region to distribute the shoes?

You can request a specific country or region we serve and we will try to accommodate your request, but we cannot guarantee that the shoes you collect will be distributed in that region.

Does Dr Foot Foundation provide shipping for incoming shoe donations?
We do not have the resources to assist with the cost of shipping donated shoes to our facilities. We ask that donors assume the responsibility for transporting shoes to our warehouse locations. We will then process and ship these shoes to their destinations around the world.
Individuals wishing to donate a moderate number of pairs of shoes are encouraged to visit our official retail participating locations to drop off shoes!

Is there a drop off location near me?

Please view our drop off location page or contact us.

Drop off locations are reserved for individual/personal shoe donations and NOT for larger donations (50 pairs or more). For larger donations please contact us for shipping information or collection.

Do you supply shipping boxes and rubber bands?

No we don’t. Use whatever appropriate shipping boxes you have available to you. Size doesn't matter. Most places like your local grocery store and retail shops usually have plenty of boxes that they could donate free of charge.

What do you do with the shoes you receive?

All shoes are processed and graded by our staff. New and high grade used shoes are earmarked for crisis relief distribution. Lower grade used shoes and shoes inappropriate for crisis relief (e.g. high heeled shoes) are provided to micro-enterprise programmes in developing countries. Shoes that cannot be used are recycled into clean energy at an ‘energy-from-waste’ facility in Birmingham, UK.

How do you ensure environmental sustainability?

Shoes we receive that are in too poor condition to be utilized – which is a very small percentage – are recycled into clean energy at an ‘energy-from-waste’ facility, operated by Veolia in Birmingham, UK.  Veolia built a state-of-the-art Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Tyseley, just to the east of Birmingham City Centre. It takes 350,000 tonnes of Birmingham’s rubbish each year and converts it into electricity.