Oxford drinkers urged 'sling us your old slingbacks' to keep elderly warm (From Oxford Mail)

Oxford drinkers urged 'sling us your old slingbacks' to keep elderly warm

7:00am Monday 4th March 2013 in News

Well-heeled customers of an Oxford bar are being urged to chuck us your Choos and sling us your slingbacks to keep elderly people warm.

The Living Room, in the Oxford Castle development, wants its well-shod clientele to donate their old shoes to its Heel Appeal, to raise money for Oxfordshire Community Foundation’s (OCF) Surviving Winter Appeal.

Cold weather is expected to have contributed to the deaths of 26,000 elderly people in the UK this winter – the worst since 2008/2009.

In Oxfordshire in 2010/11, 360 elderly people lost their lives in cold-related circumstances and dozens more suffered isolation and hardship.

The Surviving Winter Fund disseminates much-needed cash grants to help people afford their fuel bills, maintain or replace their heating systems and attend supportive, senior citizen groups.

Pensioners who feel they can do without them are being asked to donate their government Winter Fuel payments to the fund and people and businesses are also being urged to give through one-off donations or fundraising, like the Heel Appeal.

Richard Kyprios, general manager at The Living Room, said: “Everyone has shoes lurking at the back of the wardrobe which haven’t been worn for some time, and we have a recycling company that will pay us 40 pence per kilo for them, which we can then donate to the fund.”

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