Footwear repair firm Sneaker Cleaner Blackpool in appeal for unwanted shoes to help those in need

Conor Devlin, who owns Sneaker Cleaner Blackpool, is based at Abingdon Street Market and ran a campaign last year to help provide school shoes for families who were struggling.

Now he’s running a similar campaign but this time the footwear is aimed at vulnerable people in the community, of all ages, who are being helped by the Volunteer Centre Blackpool, also based on Abingdon Street.

The Volunteer Centre is currently involved in a number of schemes, including the Cost of Living Project Blackpool, helping struggling families.

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Sign up for our free newsletters now They also run the Navigation Project, which lends vital assistance to homeless people.

Conor is asking people to donate decent, unwanted shoes, including sports shoes, and bring them along to a special event being held at the Last Light Cafe, Edward Street, on Sunday April 14 between 11am and 2pm.

There will even be a £1 off discount on a cup of coffee for the first 50 people who donate.

He said: “The Volunteers Centre does such a brilliant job at helping the people who need most help.

“We clean up shoes for a living so we’re more than happy to put that to good use like this.

“We ran this in our Belfast branch recently and it did really well.

“Last year the people of Blackpool were great so we’re hoping for more of that again.”

However, Conor stressed that the donated shoes may be old and unwanted, but must not be fit for the bin!

If would-be donors can’t get to the cafe for the one-off event, they can still drop off shoes at Sneaker Cleaners afterwards.