Running Industry Alliance announces its support of the UK-wide JogOn campaign
Running Industry Alliance (RIA) is proud to announce its support of JogOn, a UK-wide campaign aimed at removing 1m pairs of running shoes from landfill.
JogOn has joined RIA as Alliance Partner, with RIA being the conduit to support discussions with brands and other RIA members about the campaign. It is estimated that 33m pairs of running shoes end up in landfill each year, many of which remain usable and could benefit others.
Working in partnership with SportsShoes.com JogOn has grown and currently has collection partnerships with universities, libraries, schools, running clubs, independent retailers, hotel spas and over 200 leisure centres. A partnership with the Courier Evri means that members of the public can send in their shoes from anywhere in the UK for a set fee of £2.00 (for up to 15kgs of shoes) to JogOn’s HQ in West Sussex, where they are sorted and boxed for shipping.
97% of the shoes that JogOn receives are good enough to be re-used and these are sent to charities that service end users, NGO’s who run outreach programs, and micro-economies. Any “end of life” shoes are taken care of in the UK, with burning in Waster to Power plants one alternative to landfill.
A large JogOn collection point will also be featured at The Running Conference next month, where attendees can donate any unwanted trainers and contribute to these being removed from landfill and being given another chance with someone else.
Co-Leads Rebecca Richardson and Jonathan Midwood from RIA said: “We are proud to announce that RIA is supporting the JogOn campaign with awareness and the re-purpose support of footwear, with the goal to help remove 1 million pairs of running shoes from landfill. Having a collection point at The Running Conference seemed a natural start to supporting JogOn. We are looking forward to working with Tony to increase awareness of the campaign across channels and show ways that RIA members can get involved.”
Tony Piedade, Founder & CEO of JoggingBuddy.com and JogOn said: “It is estimated that every year 33 million pairs of running shoes end up in landfill. As a runner, I know that most running shoes remain usable once they have outlived their usefulness supporting the feet of runners. We want these shoes to be removed from landfill, and that means ANY landfill. We would like to urge everyone to give their running shoes a second chance, keep them out of landfill and let them be re-used, and we need the support of the industry to make this possible in the long term.
“I am grateful for the support of RIA and looking forward to having valuable and impactful conversations with the RIA team, fellow members, alliance partners and the running industry.”
Running Industry Alliance (RIA) is an independent National Trade Organisation built for the UK & Ireland Running Industry with the aim to collectively help its Members to drive the Running Industry forward to improve the Sport and Business of Running.
The RIA Members-only The Running Conference takes place at Loughborough University from 11th to 13th December 2022 with attendees from the running industry’s different sectors including brands, retailers, distributors, events, media, communities, charities, NGB, service providers, and more. The conference is capped at a maximum of 280 attendees for 2022.
The theme of The Running Conference is “Impactful Collaborations” with a focus around connecting, supporting, educating, sharing, amplifying and growing.
The Running Conference details released so far are here: www.runningindustryalliance.com/conference/
More details about RIA membership can be found on the website for anyone wanting to join now and be at The Running Conference #TRC22 .
RIA Members and Alliance Partners can be viewed here: www.runningindustryalliance.com/foundation-members/
Further details about Running Industry Alliance can be found on this website and the LinkedIn company page.