A Belfast man who turned his passion for shoes into a restoration business is now using his talents to help homeless charities across the city.
Daniel Gardner from Dunmurry has always had an eye for nice trainers and decided to learn a new skill in order to give his worn-out shoes a new lease of life.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Daniel said: "I'm a trainer collector myself and I have a big collection of Adidas trainers - I have a load that are unworn or still in the box but about three years ago, I had a load of pairs sitting in the bottom of the wardrobe and I had spent too much money on them to get rid of them.
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"I decided to teach myself how to clean them up and whenever I realised that there wasn't really anyone else over here doing this sort of thing, I thought it might be an opportunity to turn a hobby into something I could work on the side."
Daniel, who works at Belfast International Airport, quickly turned his hobby of preparing his own shoes into a small side business called Trainer Rehab NI, a path he has really enjoyed so far.
"I was just sharing before and after pictures of my shoes and then it grew to my partner, family and then mates asking could I do anything with their shoes and they would send them round and I would look at them in my free time.
"I was just messing about with shoes in the kitchen but whenever they were getting them back and seeing the result they wanted to give me something for doing it because they were impressed and could wear them again.
"I enjoy doing it as it's my hobby and being a 'sneaker head', I enjoy getting the challenge of trying my hand at any pair because it's not just Adidas anymore," he explained.
He accepts any make and any size of trainers, including children, and will do his best to revive them and give them a longer life span. His wife Sara also helps in the running of his social media pages and quality control.
Trainer Rehab NI is taking on a new project called Soles of Belfast to give shoes that would have otherwise gone to the bin a new home with someone who may really need them.
Daniel continued: "A man on Instagram from England is another trainer restorer and last year he launched 'Soles of Stoke' which is people donating men and women trainers so in his spare time he could clean them up and donate them to homeless charities.
"He was looking to branch out to other cities across the UK and Belfast was the first one he came to, so he contacted me to see about launching 'Soles of Belfast' with the same idea."
He has paired up with two local charities, Hope Harbour and Belfast Homeless Services, who will pass the repaired shoes on to those who need them most.
"Each month, I will collect shoes and in my spare time, clean them up and then whatever I have at the end of that month, I will split them 50-50 between the charities who will distribute them to homeless people within their shelters," he added.
"I am looking to run it throughout the whole year so there is no rush for people to donate and whatever I get each month, I will turn around."
Anyone who may have old shoes they wish to donate their old shoes can contact his page on Facebook or Instagram - Daniel is currently looking to establish drop off points in Belfast and Lisburn for people to leave their unwanted trainers to donate.
He also has offered to split postage if people from across the country if they wish to send their old shoes to his cause.
"We only launched last week and we already have just over 40 pairs at the minute which is really good. Hopefully, it will be something that will take off and I've had a good response so far."
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