After managing her son’s rugby team in 2020, Bex Gardiner soon realised a lot of people in Marlborough couldn’t afford boots for their children.

So, she did something about it. And now, well ...

“My garage looks like I’m hoarding,” Gardiner said, as she showed off the scores of boots lying around in boxes.

Gardiner said it started when she decided to ask around to see if anyone had spare rugby boots, or even running shoes they weren’t using, so she could pass them on to families who were struggling.

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“Parents were pulling their kids out of rugby and every kind of sport you can imagine because people were just not able to afford luxuries like sports gear,” she said.

“If you've got a family-of-five [or more] ... it's not affordable, especially if you've got more than one child playing sport, that’s a worry on people’s minds.”

The mother-of-four then created the ‘Koha Shoes’ Facebook page.

“I was pretty overwhelmed by all the things that turned up, I'm still overwhelmed,” she said.

“This community that we live in is just so amazing, I’ve had people just randomly give me some money and say please use it how you want, so kids in the community have been getting brand-new boots.”

When the junior rugby season started in Marlborough earlier this month, Gardiner said coaches turned up and grabbed “as many pairs as they could”, but her garage was still filled with about 70 pairs of rugby boots.

In the past two years, Gardiner reckoned the number of boots donated was well into the hundreds and “getting up there” into the thousands.

“Some of them have been worn for one season, if that. Some of them are brand new.”

It wasn’t just rugby boots either, as Gardiner said she had been given soccer boots, hockey shoes, cricket gear, sports clothing and even food.

She said a man dropped off a collection of rugby jerseys to her last week who had originally intended to sell them online, but saw the Koha Shoes page and decided to give them to Gardiner to pass on to families in need.

“We’re just a bit overwhelmed by the generosity of the community. It’s amazing, it really is, there’s some great humans in this town.”

Gardiner, who didn’t “really like recognition”, said she had started leaving pairs of boots at her front door, so people could try them on and take them without having to knock.

“I have to sometimes tell people to not leave their shoes outside the door or else someone might pick them up,” she said.

Gardiner wanted to give a massive thanks to the Marlborough community for their continued generosity and for keeping the donations coming.

“We just want to keep it alive, we just want to keep it going as much as we can.”

People in need of boots or looking to donate could contact Gardiner through the Koha Shoes Facebook page.

“No discrimination whatsoever, if you need a hand, just message me,” she said.

Gardiner also wanted to acknowledge Te Pātaka, an organisation formed as a response to the first Covid lockdown in 2020 which gave whānau in Te Tauihu food, care packages and support, as another place struggling whānau in Marlborough could go to for help.