Black Country businessman hands out £10k worth of designer trainers to school pupils
It's that time of the year where a big man in a red suit gives out gifts for Christmas, but a Black Country businessman has taken matters into his own hands by dishing out £10,000 worth of trainers to school pupils.
The incredible gesture from Smethwick businessman Steven Hamilton has gained a lot of attraction on social media, after he gave away 56 pairs of trainers including Yeezys and Jordans.
Steven, 36, who is a property developer, is now set to make this a monthly series and the next giveaway is set to take place next week on Friday, December 2 – this time with over 100 pairs of trainers, PlayStation 5's, and Xbox consoles.
He documents his journey in business and life on YouTube, including a video of him giving away 56 pairs of highly-sought after sneakers at the St John Wall School in Handsworth, where dozens of pupils can be seen gathering around his vehicle whilst he hands the pairs over.
Speaking about why he is doing this, Steven said: "I'm from Smethwick and I lived in Willenhall through my life too, and growing up, my mother was on benefits, I lived on a council estate but in the last eight years, I have done extremely well in property.
"I see the cost of living crisis, poverty in a lot of areas and so me and my fiance Isabella Rowles decided to do something nice for the young people in these areas.
"I understand the young people in these areas, and yes I know people need food and clothing but giving away those would not get the same reaction from young children, and so to give away trainers like Jordans, Yeezys, was special for them.
"I liaised with the school before turning up and the headteacher came out and said to me that I changed the pupils' perception of people in business and I'm actually going to go back and do a talk with the year 11 students."
Steven is a property developer based in Colmore Row, Birmingham, and is now planning to make the incredible giveaway a monthly series and plans to go to different schools around the area, handing out special gifts to pupils.
The video as always gained a lot of traction online, with both positive and negative feedback but Steven said it was mostly positive, and "you cannot please everybody."
Some people have made comments such as the gesture was done and uploaded to YouTube to make money off it, but Steven said he does not make money off the YouTube video.
He added: "We do not make money from YouTube - it doesn't work like that. I'm from these areas and I know what these kids like and so that's why I did it.
"People have been trying to get in touch with me and my business trying to find out the next location but for the safety of the students of the next school, we will be keeping it a secret to make sure we do not get pupils from other schools turning up.
"So I have been liaising with the school and we are going to do it in a safe way, to ensure no one gets hurt or anything.
"This will hopefully be a monthly thing, I plan to do one every month now - the feedback has been amazing."
Some of the trainers that Steven gives away are highly sought-after sneakers such as Adidas Yeezys, Nike Air Jordans and other Nike trainers, some of which cannot be bought normally through retail stores - emphasising just how amazing the gesture is.
The next giveaway will be taking place on Friday, December 2, with over 100 items available this time, including 120 pairs of trainers, four PlayStation 5's, four Xbox consoles, and 100 footballs.
