GDST Alumna of the Year

We are delighted to announce that Croydon High’s incredible alumna Camilla Bowry has been selected as a finalist for the GDST Alumna of the Year Award!

Camilla is the founder of charity Sal’s Shoes, delivering shoes to children living in poverty around the world. Sal’s Shoes (named after her son) began in 2013 after Camilla collected a bag of her son’s outgrown but not outworn shoes. Reluctant to throw them away, but unable to find a suitable charity to take them, she sent them to a friend overseas who delivered them to a children’s oncology ward.

Seven years on, over two million pairs of shoes are walking again in 49 countries, more than 20,000 pairs alone have found their new feet here in the UK since the start of the first national lockdown, helping children in poverty during the pandemic.

Sal’s Shoes has received backing from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Marks & Spencer, whose recent donation reached children at an IDP camp in Nigeria. Not satisfied with this, Camilla has now set up Clemie’s Clothes (named after her daughter), which finds new owners for children’s fancy dress outfits around the world..

“No other 7-year period has gone on to have had such a positive impact on my life than my time at Croydon High. I feel so privileged to have received the education I did and leave equipped with the multitude of skills that have stood me in such good stead for what I’ve gone on to achieve.”

You can vote for Camilla to win Alumna of the Year here on the GDST website. Voting closes Monday 10 May 2021.

We are really proud of Camilla and all she has achieved!