Suitable footwear. More opportunities to take part.
Body and Sole connects the Cordiners’ shoemaking heritage with a practical purpose: helping children and young people access sport, physical activity and outdoor learning when suitable footwear is beyond reach.
Reported figures
9,000+
Pairs of footwear reported for the period 31 May 2024 to 31 May 2026.
£161,905.50
Cumulative allocations to footwear since 2017, recorded in the 2026 report.
2017
The year Body and Sole was established.
These are the measures reported by the programme. Pairs of footwear are not a count of individual children, and allocations are not a measure of a child’s longer-term outcomes.
What the support makes possible
Sport and physical activity
Trainers, football boots and other sports footwear help schools respond when unsuitable or unaffordable equipment is a barrier to joining in.
Outdoor learning
Wellington boots and walking boots support activities that ordinary school shoes may not be suitable for, including wet-weather learning and outdoor expeditions.
The programme works through schools and partners, including Glasgow City Council’s Physical Education, Physical Activity and School Sport team, known as PEPASS. Provision has also included shared pools of footwear, allowing equipment to support more than one young person over time.
Published examples
A school pilot that grew
The 2019–20 annual report looks back at the pilot’s provision of 680 pairs of sports shoes and a shared pool of 150 walking boots. The report describes how the programme developed with Glasgow schools and outdoor-activity partners.
An £8,000 school award in 2020
The publicly reported presentation at St Bernard’s Primary School supported footwear for Glasgow pupils, including wellington boots for outdoor activity. Read the archived account.
The 2024–26 programme
The latest published report records more than 9,000 pairs of footwear over its two-year reporting period. It also records donations of £24,391.50 during 2025. Those figures describe different periods and should be read alongside the full report.
Read the evidence
The reports explain the programme’s development, the provision made and the needs identified by its partners. Each figure above is tied to its reporting period rather than presented as a running live total.
Read our summary of the 2026 report or explore how Body and Sole works.
Help the next young person take part
Support for Body and Sole helps the Cordiners continue this footwear work with schools and community partners. For organisational enquiries or other ways to help, contact the Clerk.
