Croydon High girls go barefoot in support of Sal’s Shoes

Croydon High’s guest speaker at Lower School Prizegiving this year was alumna Camilla Bowry, who left the GDST (Girl’s Day School Trust) school in Selsdon in 1998.

After reminiscing and paying tribute to the teachers and classmates she said had shaped her, Camilla totally inspired the packed Hall, as she spoke of the impact made by her charity, Sal’s Shoes which she set up in 2013.

Faced with a collection of her son’s outgrown shoes, Camilla looked for a way to donate them to those most in need. She became frustrated by the fact that she could not find a single charity who could tell her where her donated shoes would end up and so decided to arrange delivery of the shoes herself. Having grown up in Africa, and with a network of friends and family scattered around the world, Camilla set to work. The first parcel was sent to a children’s oncology ward overseas and before long the family received a photo of a child wearing Camilla’s son, Sal’s, first pair of shoes.

In her first year, Camilla distributed 4,805 pairs of shoes to eight countries including the UK. Almost five years on, the charity collects upwards of 300,000 pairs of shoes per year and re-homes them across the world, locally and globally.

Camilla was unassuming at the lectern, but her message was clear – from small acts, great things are achievable. And it as this message that struck home with the Croydon High community who immediately responded in the most practical way possible.

On the last day of the summer term, straight after the school’s final assembly, Croydon High pupils and staff in both the Junior and the Senior schools, and led by Headmistress Emma Pattison, were invited to take off their shoes and leave school barefoot. The shoes left behind will all be donated to Sal’s Shoes.

The response was overwhelming with parents fully supporting the initiative and shoes piling up on in the School Hall, ready to be re-homed.