Footwear-OCT20-P17 Petition_Footwear_Jan10_p30 19/11/2020 19:40 Page 17
PETITION
Please support this Petition from SSF and CFHR member Samantha Tarbit of Shoedini in Milton Keynes
http://chng.it/c5xc9WWk
This petition from the Society of Shoe Fitters (SSF) created by member Sam of Shoedini, is to plead that Boris Johnson announces Qualified Shoe Fitters and Members of the Society of Shoe Fitters and Children’s Foot Health Register be allowed to trade during lockdowns. The SSF provide a service that supports our National Healthcare service for both children and adults. It should therefore be considered a crucial and not a non-essential service. The footwear industry has lost numerous professional shoe shops this
year alone. Shops are hanging by a shoestring (every pun intended) due to supermarkets selling cheaply made footwear and online sales, but now the doors are banging shut on shops that have been around numerous generations – excellent quality, with professional fitters that put shoe fitting and personal service above fashion. Ill-fitting footwear affects our physiology and has a knock-on effect for our whole bodies, so children, particularly, should be measured and fitted professionally and regularly. For someone with diabetes, this is even more important for both adults and children. A blister can lead to an ulcer, an ulcer can become infected and this can lead to amputation – costing the NHS millions, which would not have occurred if people had been informed by Government that shoe fitting is a vital (and free) service for all. The importance of specialist shoe shops was pointed out in the 70’s Munro Report, but subsequently and worryingly ignored. Chiropodists/Podiatrists are permitted to open during this lockdown, so Qualified Shoe Fitters i.e. members of the Society of Shoe Fitters and the Children’s Foot Health Register, should also be allowed to open too, given we often see referrals from clinics. This should be for no other shoe shop, just those offering a professional safe measuring and fitting service and Registered under The Society of Shoe Fitters and The Children’s Foot Health Register. As a charity the SSF freely help the public with their enquiries and many young parents contacted them during the first lockdown, worried that their child needed footwear and they had no idea where to go or what to do, but just knew it was important to get it right. Now, with the colder weather, children will need boots and good socks to keep feet warm, safe, and dry, but thick socks in wrongly sized shoes or boots is a recipe for disaster. SSF Members are trained to recognise foot health issues, give best
advice. Anyone can measure, not many know how to professionally ‘fit’. This higher level of knowledge from our Qualified Shoe Fitters is often why specialist podiatry and chiropody services refer patients over. SSF members are deemed the industry gold standard in fitting and a break in fittings checks for those vulnerable in health, both old and young is impacting our nations foot health. It is about time the Government took the health concerns we see daily and pressure we feel seriously, and about time the industry invested more in this charity to allow them to carry on its great work
LAURA WEST F .S.S.F . On behalf of the T rustees and Council of: THE SOCIETY OF SHOE FITTERS (Registered Charity No. 1178413)
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
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