Founder of charity that donates shoes gets an OBE

The Surrey-based founder of a charity said parents are having to choose between buying their children shoes or paying utility bills due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Camilla “CJ” Bowry set up Sal’s Shoes to distribute second-hand footwear to families in need.

Ms Bowry, of Oxted, was made an OBE for services to young people, education and the environment at a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

She said her charity, which donates footwear all over the world, had seen a surge in demand in recent years in the UK that is “only going up”.

Ms Bowry launched the charity in 2013 after her son, Sal, outgrew his first pair of shoes and she was unable to find a place to donate them that would tell her where they would end up.

She said struggling parents who could not afford to buy from shoe shops used to have the option of getting cheaper shoes in places such as supermarkets.

She said: "Actually, parents don’t have even that surplus any more.

“It’s paying a utility bill with that or putting it towards school.”

Last year, the charity, which is based in Edenbridge, Kent, distributed more than 180,000 pairs of shoes to children in the UK, including more than 30,000 pairs of school shoes, Ms Bowry said.

Speaking after receiving her honour, she added: "We have never, ever seen demand as it is at the moment.

“We are one of the richest nations in the world, and our children can’t afford shoes.”

She said she had "absolutely no political agenda" and that the aim of her charity was to rehome shoes that were outgrown before they had been outworn.

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