Author // Shannon Edwards, Place New Farm
The foot – a complex structure used daily that we often take for granted.
Imagine if walking was your main form of transport and one day you found yourself with injured, or sore feet and unable to walk - this is the reality for many of Brisbane’s homeless.
Local Brisbane podiatrist, owner of Queensland Orthotics Podiatry and Paromed, Andrew Barlow, is making a difference to the homeless and helping them walk tall.
We spoke with Andrew about how his charity “Walking Tall” helps ease the pain of the cities vulnerable.
Tell us a bit about your business?
Photo Credit: Walking Tall
Paromed brings a contemporary, technological element to podiatry practices and leads innovation in the orthopaedic industry.
The technology we have allows us to do things that’ve never been done before in podiatry practices and it makes a huge difference to people’s lives.
For example, we can take a scan of someone’s foot and generate a shoe insert to help deal with any issues, all through a computer generated program.
Our businesses look after elite sports people from runners, tennis players and some of our big clients, including the Queensland Firebirds.
Both Queensland Orthotics Podiatry and Paromed are highly advanced as far as podiatry clinics go.
Can you tell us about the Walking Tall Charity?
Photo Credit: Walking Tall
It started about 12 years ago when I got involved in a Friday night charity where we would share dinner with the homeless.
This was a wonderful experience as we weren’t just providing the food, but we also sat down and had a conversation with these locals, which I think is really important part of the process.
Sometimes the homeless can miss that whole social connection and the benefits communication can have.
I soon realised a large number of homeless people that were attending weren’t often wearing shoes and their feet were in poor condition.
I quickly approached a handful of shoe company’s and asked whether they had shoes that I could provide for the charity and everyone was really keen to help out.
With those shoes we went around to the local homeless shelters and gave them out.
It was really important that we matched everyone with the right shoes for their feet.
For example, we had people were looking at getting a cleaning job so we provided them with a good pair of leather shoes which had lots of support and would be comfortably worn all day.
If they were on a worksite we could give them work boots that were safety rated and would provide the right protection.
At the end of the day I thought, “how can I provide this service on a regular basis?”
Soon after, I started the Walking Tall charity and set up a podiatry clinic out of the 139 Club in Fortitude Valley that runs around every fortnight.
The clinic provides podiatry services for the homeless, where we treat them wherever needed and provide them with the right shoes.
These services also include biomechanics procedures from sore backs, knees and hips – whatever they need.
Photo Credit: Walking Tall
Why do you think this charity is so important?
Photo Credit: Walking Tall
It’s really important for two reasons, it’s not only for functionality but there’s a social aspect to it as well.
The truth is, people often judge you by your shoes and if you’re going for a job interview somewhere wearing scraggily, scuffed all shoes you’re not going to make a great first impression.
Functionality is a sole driver behind what we do.
These services aren’t only for people who are looking at going back to work, but for the everyday homeless who aren’t able to work.
Their main form of transport is by foot.
Often they need to walk right across the other side of town to get their clothes washed, then back to get something to eat, and back again to go to the doctors.
If they have trouble with their feet there’s no way they can do all the travel required, they become stuck in one place and their quality of life disappears – it’s sad but it’s true.
To me it’s absolutely key to get these people from A to B and help them do that in comfort.
How do you maintain a supply of footwear?
Photo Credit: Walking Tall
We now also have numerous ‘Walking Tall’ bins at all of our practices located across Brisbane in the City, Ashgrove, Deception Bay and Murrumba Downs.
Our patients and anyone from the community can donate new or used shoes straight into the charity bins that will go directly to someone in need.
As well as this we have regular footwear providers from numerous stores which helps make a huge difference.
We still need all the donations we can get though – we need a whole range of footwear for all types of occasions.
For example, we have some ladies and gentlemen who are in need for a slightly dressier shoe when applying for work.
For the ladies this may be a good quality ballet shoe – we have lot of spots shoes which is great but sometimes we need more of a variety.
A big thing to remember is that we don’t take any cash donations – all donations are in the form of footwear because that’s what we really need.