20 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2014

hose who joined in with National Shoe FittingWeek in 2013 really enjoyed the event andfound that networking with both the footwear

industry and other shops, clinics and schools intheir area, garnered tremendous support andallowed them to educate their customers andshow off their stock and their knowledge. Lots ofS.S.F. members created innovative events i.e.Easter egg hunts with eggs in other shopwindows, colouring competitions, fashion make-over evenings, foot pampering sessions, find thegolden shoe etc. They also invited podiatrists,health visitors, reflexologists etc. into their shopsto look at their footwear and to take part in theevent, some of whom created talks, evenings andmini-clinics to promote their own businesses.Despite not having adverts in nationalnewspapers, the effect of each shop throwing apebble in the pool created a ripple that spread farand wide. The knock-on effect was that their localpodiatrists have a contact that they feel happy torecommend and work with, and a better idea ofthe footwear available which may be suitable fororthotics, all adding to money in the till!

Because of the highly positive feedback, theSociety will be stepping up the promotion in 2014and encouraging all I.F.R.A. members, C.F.H.R.members, Podiatrists and any other shop whowould like to join in, to take part w/c 12th April2014 – the week prior to Easter. A participationform is available from the home page of the SSFwebsite and can be found in trade magazines.Easter is a moveable feast but traditionally thetime when journalists are running footwear P.R. asfeet are coming out of boots into shoes andsandals. It’s when people start to take stock oftheir feet and see what the ravages of the wintermonths have done to them.

The Council of the Society are thrilled that this year that they have the support of theSociety of Chiropodists & Podiatrists. The College of Chiropodists & Podiatrists isendorsing the event and will include their logoin the promotional campaign. Theirrepresentative Nita Parmer said: "The College ofPodiatry is pleased to support the Society ofShoe Fitters campaign as good footwear andfitting has an important role to play in foothealth and well being."

The Society knows that the public are sufferingbecause of bad practice and badly constructedfootwear and this uses valuable NHS resourcesbecause of related aches and pains (with over11,000 podiatrists in the U.K. it should be obvious the industry needs to take

the matter more seriously). The British FootwearAssociation and the Society of Shoe Fitters arebusy answering desperate enquiries from thepublic on a weekly basis.

We asked the President of the S.S.F. EllieDickins in addition to the online sale of children’sshoes, is there any other practice they feel ishighly detrimental to foot health. Ellie said “Thereare hundreds of independent shops including themultiples, who are selling quality products buttheir staff only have a basic level of training. Lackof knowledge is expected in chainstores becauseof the staff turnover and products sold, butfootwear multiples or independents should bebetter than that. Training is tax deductable, so thecost implication for giving a better level oftraining is not as high as they like to think”. Ellie ispassionate about adult footwear having aspecialist shop in Hungerford, but at one pointhad a children’s shop too. Ellie said “One of theworst things any of the suppliers has done is tosell Fitting Gauges to the public.

This is like giving a Lotus car to a learner driver;the public buy one and think they know how to fit.They don’t use it to buy the brand that supplied it;they use it to buy any cheap rubbish, or worse stillhand-me-downs and secondhand shoes fromcharity shops. Yes you can buy scissors that cuthair, but they are not as good as hairdressingscissors and it is down to the skill of the personusing them that counts. Parents came into myshop and thought they could tell me how to fitand what fitted their child best simply becausethey had watched videos online and had a gauge

in their hand, and I know that a lot of ourmembers are experiencing this. However onceyou ask them direct questions and show themthey are wrong they are embarrassed and worriedthat they may have done damage to theirchildren’s feet, because most parents regardlessof their financial or educational background don’twant to harm their children and have bought thegauges not realising what else is involved. It is badpractice and shouldn’t happen. The Society has itsown gauges but would never sell them to anyoneunless part of a training package”.

Ellie said “Everyone should get behind NationalShoe Fitting Week. The big companies should putout posters in their shops and feature this onlineand the multiples like Clark’s, Russell & Bromley,Clinkards, Pavers, Jones the Bootmakers, One Small Step etc. are all welcome to join in too,we all have a responsibility to keep a fittingservice and quality footwear available. In this waythe trade is supporting one another and themessage will be far more prominent to youngmums who are happy to spend money ondesigner labels, but don’t realise that a goodfitting service comes free.”

Society Secretary said “Everyone is welcome tojoin us for National Shoe Fitting Week this is notjust about the S.S.F., it is about keeping standardshigh within our industry. You will receive a basicpack of posters, some P.R. material, a colouringcompetition template or two etc. Our logo isavailable as a PDF to download and promote theevent online and we would appreciate everyonefeaturing it on their Facebook page and ‘Tweeting’prior to the event…the number of people thiscould canvass would be phenomenal. Better stilljoin us as a professional shoe fitter - for highlyexperienced Fitters with more than 5 yearsexperience selling quality brands we have anEntrance Application, for those who know theirknowledge of physiology, shoe manufacture and fitis not as good as it could be, we have our courses(next one starts March 1st). We can also create oneday courses for multiple staff and are currentlyputting the final touches to a course thatencompasses how the trade works for podiatrists.We work hard for our members and AssociateMembers at the same time helping hundreds ofconsumers annually; you have nothing to lose andeverything to gain by working with us.”

For more information about National Shoe Fitting Week go online: www.shoefitters-uk.orgor email: secretary@shoefitters-uk.orgor visit the SSF stand at MODA in February.

T

KEEP FEET FIT

Ellie Dickins President Society of Shoe Fitters

Posters for Shoe Fitting Week are available in A3 andA4 from Laura West at the Society of Shoe Fitters

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