Dad-of-one Lance Birchall, from Stoke-on-Trent, says he ‘fell in love’ with trainers when he was just 14 years old. After the 25 year old lost his job in lockdown, he turned to Instagram to encourage people to donate their old trainers for him to clean and restore for homeless people. The project is called Soles of Stoke.
Lance said: “People were saying ‘if you can’t make these an 8 or 9 out of 10, I’m just going to chuck them in the bin’. So I thought even if I can’t, someone will appreciate them even if they don’t look brand new.”
Just 10 minutes away from Lance’s home lies Stoke legend Lou Macari’s homeless centre, a warehouse filled with glamping-style pods that give rough sleepers a dignified private bedroom to call their own.
In the future, Lance also hopes to raise enough money to buy a new pod for a homeless resident at Lou Macari’s centre, along with sleeping equipment and vital supplies.