Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal news

Shoe Biz Appeal takes off in Cyprus

The Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal is taking off in Cyprus, thanks to two Blue Peter viewers.

Friends Lucie and Rebecca, aged 10, watched the Shoe Biz Appeal launch and wanted to get involved – in a big way. Soon, they’d convinced their school and five other schools to get collecting.

Lucie says: “I saw the children in Malawi and thought how sad it is that they don’t have anyone to tuck them in, or help them when they’re hurt. I thought how easy it is to just donate a pair of shoes, but by doing it you could change someone’s life.”

So, school children in Cyprus were soon doing the Biz, but there was a small problem – how would they get their shoes over to the UK?

Luckily, the girls found an answer: “Dad said we should get the RAF to fly them over,” says Lucie.

Lucie and Rebecca live on a military base in Cyprus, and the RAF agreed to fit the shoes onto their military flights to the UK. Once they arrive in England, the Shoe Biz collection vans will pick up the shoes and take them off to be recycled.

The girls have been on local radio and in the newspaper to promote the Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal, and now there are more collection points in shops and even health centres.

Rebecca says: “We have so much – shoes, toys, a place to learn. These children don’t even have parents. We want to collect enough shoes for a whole new Children’s Corner in Malawi.”

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Photo Credits: Lucie's dad Richard