Dozens of Children’s Shoes Left Outside Town Hall in Powerful SEND Protest.

Children’s shoes were laid outside Havering Town Hall yesterday as part of a powerful national movement highlighting the struggles faced by children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The heartfelt display formed part of the ‘Every Pair Tells a Story’ campaign, organised by SEND Sanctuary UK in partnership with Let Us Learn Too and Let’s Make a Difference. The initiative sees families across the country leaving pairs of children’s shoes in public places, each tagged with the child’s name and a personal story — symbolising those who have been let down by the current SEND system.

Outside Havering Town Hall, dozens of pairs of shoes lined the pavement, each one carrying a message of the heartbreaking struggles and frustration they have been through, most bought tears to your eyes. . Local families took part to make a stand for their children, demanding fair access to education, support, and understanding.

Samantha who is a SEND campaigner and Havering resident told the Havering Daily:

“Families are calling for urgent action and accountability from both local authorities and central government. With government SEND reform changes on the horizon, parents are clear that they will not be silenced. Any reform that does not listen to the lived experiences of families risks repeating the same failures that have already left thousands of children without the education and support they are legally entitled to.

The shoes represent children with school anxiety, those on part-time timetables, and those denied the legal education they deserve.
Each pair tells a story of a child who should be in school, but is not.

For some children, these shoes were never worn because they were never given the right school place.
For others, they were only worn for a few days or weeks before everything fell apart.
Those shoes now sit at home, by the wall or under the stairs, while parents look at them and grieve the normal school life they imagined.”
 

She added:

“I volunteered to help with this national movement as I have children with additional needs that have (and 1 is currently) been failed by the education system.
Its a battle that i have constantly had to face over the last 10 years. Its been a fight to get my children’s voices heard, its been a fight to get any S.E.N.D support for them, a fight to get an EHCP and even bigger fight to get the EHCP implemented.

My first child was out of school for at least 18 months before he was offered a specialist school, only to be failed in college.

My second child had so much potential in primary only for then to struggle in secondary school. No proper support was put in place, but instead, i was fined for their low attendance. They eventually burned out of education at the age of 14, and left school without any GCSEs.

My thiird child is currently in alternative provision because the school didn’t follow his EHCP. I’ve complained, but nothing gets done. He is currently struggling with his mental health which means he’s struggling to attend his alternative provision. Havering S.E.N.D team does know this but I’ve still been threatened with an attendance fine.”.

Passers-by stopped to read the handwritten stories attached to the shoes, many visibly moved by the words of parents and carers describing their children’s experiences.

The national movement continues to gather momentum, with similar displays appearing outside council buildings across the UK. For families in Havering, yesterday’s event was more than a protest — it was a plea for understanding, inclusion, and change.

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