LEISURE centres in Warwick district have joined forces with the JogOn campaign – which is aiming to keep a million pairs of running shoes out of landfill.
St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre in Warwick and Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre in Leamington – run by Everyone Active in partnership with Warwick District Council (WDC) – are each hosting a collection bin where members of the local community can drop off their unwanted running shoes.
These are then sent to JogOn, who liaise with logistics and distributions partners to ensure that reusable pairs are sent around the world to people who most need them, with the help of charities and non-governmental organisations.
JogOn estimates that every year in the UK alone, more than 30 million pairs of shoes end up in landfill, while elsewhere in the world around three million people suffer from foot diseases.
But it is hoped this nationwide partnership with Everyone Active will make a valuable contribution to drastically improving those statistics.
Gareth Wagg, Everyone Active’s contract manager, said: “We would encourage people of all ages to donate their unwanted running shoes so that they can experience a second life, rather than simply going to landfill.
JogOn’s CEO Tony Piedade, said: “We know from trials that leisure centre users are very engaged in this type of initiative and we fully expect to see 60 to 70 pairs collected per centre, each month.”
