Leisure centres aim to reduce running shoes sent to landfill with ‘JogOn’.

Leisure centres in Havering have joined forces with the JogOn campaign – which is aiming to keep 1million pairs of running shoes out of landfill.

Central Park Leisure Centre, Harrow Lodge Leisure Centre, Noak Hill Sports Complex and Sapphire Ice and Leisure, run by award-winning operator Everyone Active in partnership Havering London Borough Council, 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 30million pairs of shoes end up in landfill, while elsewhere in the world around three million people suffer from sole diseases.

But it is hoped this nationwide partnership with Everyone Active will make a valuable contribution to drastically improving those statistics.

The public can access a full list of the 100-plus Everyone Active sites taking part using JogOn’s interactive map.

Tom Fletcher, Everyone Active’s area contract manager, said: “We are delighted to partner with JogOn for this hugely positive initiative, which means the local community can make a real difference.

“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.

“It’s just a matter of dropping the shoes into collection bins at our centres and Everyone Active and JogOn will do the rest.”

Tony Piedade, JogOn’s CEO, said: “This partnership with Everyone Active will prove a huge boost in our efforts to keep 1million pairs of running shoes from going to landfill.

“We know from trials that leisure centre users are very engaged in this type of initiative and we fully expect to see 60-70 pairs collected per centre, each month.

“With a push, this partnership alone could keep 100,000 pairs a year out of landfill.”

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