SHOPPERS are being urged to drop off their unwanted shoes when they hit the shops this weekend.

Volunteers from Hampshire charity Hope and Aid Direct will be outside Sainsbury’s supermarket in Hedge End today and tomorrow with a “shop n drop” point, collecting donated items which will be trucked to Kosovo to help families and children living in poverty.

The charity complete the trip twice a year, delivering tonnes of aid, including food and clothes, to thousands of people.

Organisers say they are desperate for more shoes this year.

Fundraiser John Desty said: “Again, we are putting out a special appeal for shoes – they must be sensible, not fashion, shoes, clean and with a reasonable life left in them. It amazes us every time that we have people coming to us either in bare feet or feet wrapped in pieces of rag.”