My name is Ros Harrison and I joined the STEPS team of staff in October 2005, job-sharing the post of Information officer.

Little did I know that a chance conversation with a Clarks shop assistant in December would start this particular ball rolling! I had taken my 8 year old daughter for new school shoes, hoping to find some in the winter sales. Whilst measuring her feet, the very helpful assistant commented that she had a half size difference. My daughter wondered if that meant she would need shoes in different sizes - the assistant reassured her that - size difference is quite usual and can be easily accommodated with one pair of shoes of the same size. This prompted me to ask the assistant about demand for Clarks' odd sized service, to which she replied that a recent memo had come from Clarks HQ saying the scheme was to be withdrawn. She expressed her personal regret about this and said it was apparently for economic reasons.

On my return to the office after the Christmas break I wrote to Clarks HQ for clarification and they did indeed confirm that the scheme was no longer viable for them and that there was falling demand for it.

Very soon STEPS started to receive telephone calls and emails from parents discovering for themselves that the scheme had been stopped with no warning. They were understandably worried about the additional costs they faced in having to purchase two pairs of shoes each visit, as well as annoyed about the lack of notice and the unsympathetic approach of some Clarks staff. Our PR company launched a campaign in the media and several local radio stations and regional newspapers ran sympathetic stories.

At one point I contacted a major high street retailer for help, only to find 4 large boxes of childrens shoes delivered to our small office without warning! After a lot of sorting out by one of our fabulous volunteers, we discovered that apart from one or two exceptions, they were all left feet!

In the meantime,there was still no word from Clarks, whose sole response (no pun intended!) to anyone who contacted them to complain was to reiterate the fact that this was not cost-effective anymore and that there was falling demand. At this stage our attention in the STEPS office turned to finding alternative sources of odd sized shoes for the families who were still contacting us looking for help. We compiled a list of companies which would make shoes to measure, accommodating the difference in size at no extra cost, and we put a 'swop' facility on our website to try and offer a solution. Some retailers helpfully offered a small discount if two pairs were required for medical reasons but the fact remained that there was no satisfactory alternative to being able to go into a high street store, knowing that there would be some assistance offered without explanation or fuss.

We continued to get calls and emails on this - it was not an issue which was going to go away - and yet the media campaign appeared to have run its natural course - and then Mandy Kerr, a parent who was concerned about Clarks' lack of response contacted Watchdog to complain. Watchdog picked pu the story and Mandy suggested they contact the Steps website to see the depth of feelig from all you parents - and suddenly it was all systems go: liaising with parents who had a good story to tell and were prepared to be filmed for the programme (gulp!), getting in touch with our good friend and ambassador, the actor Eric Richards, who kindly agreed to be filmed (presumably not so terrifying an experience for him!) and working with an MP who had also picked up on the debate and was prepared to get involved. The programme went out on Tuesday 4 April. The story was really well put together, Watchdog explained the history of Clarks in some depth and had some good footage (there I go again - sorry!) of children of differing ages who need different sizes of shoe - includng a feature on Mandy and her son Kieran. At the end of the feature, it was announced that Clarks had agreed to reinstate the service. A press release from Clarks says: when we realized the strength of feeling that this decision had aroused we felt that we should make every effort to meet our customers' needs. When we realized that the withdrawal of the service was causing real problems for some of our customers we felt that we should respond. As the Watchdog presenter said, their feature seemed to be the 'straw that broke the camel's back'. Without the STEPS campaign and the willingness of parents to get involved, say their piece and be featured in various media articles, Clarks would not have 'realized the strength of feeling' and would not have been urged to reinstate the service.

So finally a RESULT! Well done to everyone involved, just show what people power can achieve!

Ros Harrison

Sunday 26th March at 07:55 & 21:26 and repeated on Thursdays at 15.27

Picture of Frank Gardner recording the appeal.

Frank Gardner, OBE, BBC Security Correspondent is making the appeal on behalf of steps. In 2004 he was shot six times at close range by Al-Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia and his cameraman was killed. After many months in hospital he returned to the BBC to resume his job. Now in a wheelchair, Frank empathises with the issues around mobility and was happy to support our mission to give all children the best chance to gain their maximum mobility. Help us to make this a successful appeal to raise much needed funds to support our community education and support programmes.Please tell your friends and relatives to listen in.

STEPS and 'Both Feet Forward' along with mother of 3 Stella Morris have just won a 2006 Patient Information Award from the BMA (British Medical Association) for their DVD on clubfoot treatment - 'Parents guide to club foot - The Ponseti Method'.

Last year STEPS won a commendation from the BMA for their Baby Hip Health Leaflet. Both DVD and leaflet are available to order on this site.

Click here for the full press release.

Looking for equipment to make life easier during your child's treatment'; Got an item to give away or sell'; Want to find your 'odd size shoe partner''; steps has launched a new area on our discussion forum to make it easier for you to find what you need. Why not take a look?

STEPS South Africa held the first Ponseti seminar in July this year. Over 50 delegates attended.

Dr Ponseti congratulates Karen Moss the group's founder and CEO.

"I congratulate you for your enormous efforts to organize the convention which I know was a great success." - I.V. Ponseti, 8 August 2006

For more information go to http://www.steps-charity.org.uk/links/9-54-south_africa.php

Little Adam McArthur tackled the Reelig Forest Walk, his first mile, helping raise over £3500 to support the work of steps and The Birnie Centre in Inverness.

Adam who is only 3yrs did not start walking until he was 2 years and eights months after spending most of his very young life in plaster.

At just one day old Adam was diagnosed with Bilateral Developmental Dysplasia of the hip and doctors told his parents Barbara and Niall that their son would have to undergo a series of operations and that he could be five years old before he would be able to walk.

After a harness failed to correct the problem Adam was put in a full body plaster at just 6 months old. Fifteen operations followed and he had plates and pins put in bones and grafts. His bones were so weak that he broke his leg, just simply rolling off a bean bag.

On the 21st October 2005 Adam walked his first mile. His Mum Barbara said " We wanted to do something to help steps after all the support we received. Everyone has been so wonderful supporting Adam with his first mile and I'm so proud of him. We don't know what will happen in the future but life is just great for Adam right now".

A Trio of Totally Death Defying Tasks

In September 2006 I am going to be doing what some may consider to be my maddest challenge to date. I will be performing a triathlon of tasks on one day. I will be tackling a very new and unusual escape featuring chains, handcuffs and a cage, then taking part in a free fall parachute jump and finally I will be juggling fire clubs - the twist is that the juggling will be blindfolded! There is no doubt that this is a massive challenge for me but I am doing this to help raise money and awareness for steps. Being someone with clubfoot I know full well the issues that people can face as a result of clubfoot. I also know how important it is to have steps there campaigning for future generations of children affected with problems such as clubfoot.

Please sponsor me and help me raise the much needed money to help steps continue its vaulable work. You can sponsor me online at http://www.justgiving.com/Daves-Triathlon

steps doesn't take walking for granted, so should we?

Thanks for your support

Dave Matkin

steps have just sold a Michael Owen signed England shirt, donated by sponsors Umbro, on e-bay. Other items are planned for future sale - we will keep you posted.

steps are organising a walk up Scafell Pike on Saturday, 12 August to raise funds. If anyone would like to join us, we would be delighted to meet you - please contact the office on 0871 717 0045

On Saturday 12th August some of the steps team, their friends, family and pets tackled England's highest peak!

Thankfully the weather was very kind to us and I am delighted to say we all made it to the top, some of us slower than others but we ALL made it.......there was even some entrepreneurial students selling bacon butties on the top!

It was a great challenge and lots of fun. If you would like to come and join us on our next walking challenge and help raise some money for steps please email clare@steps-charity.org.uk

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen have published breakthrough findings that shed light on the possible cause of clubfoot. To read the full press release click on http://www.steps-charity.org.uk/links/3-109-press_releases.php To find out more about the research go to http://www.steps-charity.org.uk/links/6-57-exploring_the_causes_of_clubfoot_in_europe.php

Many thanks to Julie Wilson, we now have our very first steps group operating in the North west! Julie lives in Bolton and would like to invite any steps supporters to attend the monthly meetings at West Houghton Community Learning Centre. For more information contact Julie by email tideys17@ukf.net or the office on 01925 750275.

The 1st steps Present & Pamper Evening in Lymm was a great success and raised over £300 to support our work.

Ladies came along and could have various pampers such as massage or manicures and then visit the stalls of wonderful gifts, beauty items, cards, fair trade goods to help get some of their christmas shopping or even treat themselves!

A big thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success.