Sole Buddy | Expertly designed school shoes

Thank you for viewing my crowdfunding campaign for Sole Buddy shoes. Your pledge will help to make this new range of school shoes a reality! COVID-19 has been a shock for everyone and once schools closed, my business closed for several months too. Now with schools due to return in September I want to bring these fantastic shoes to life, for young children to benefit from the expertly designed foot health features. To start as they mean to go on, with healthy feet, joints and good posture for life. Thank you for your backing my campaign.

Creating energy, bounce and longevity in school shoes like never before. Designed in Britain to develop beautiful young feet, from the very first day at school. Special bio-mechanical design features assists a child's foot to develop naturally during the life of the shoe. 

Sole Buddy shoes are re-building school shoes from the sole up. Looking after children's feet, a true miracle of natural engineering.    

A British brand created by people with 20+ years learning in children's footwear. Collaborating to create school shoes that keep feet healthy for life and encapsulating strong foot development with a high quality shoe. 

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Children wear their school shoes more than any other footwear, school shoes are the mentors and carers of young feet.  

Our feet are the most complex structure of the human body.  A true miracle of natural engineering, we are born with 22 bones in each foot, and the rest is soft cartilage that slowly hardens to become 26 bones in the adult foot.

Many foot, joint and back complaints can be attributed to the wear and tear of our feet. 

Sole Buddy shoes are specially designed and correctly fitted to stop damage or any malformation occurring and keep young feet beautiful for life. Our aim is to improve the foot health of the nation's children. 

We have added growth development features and materials that last - so that they can be worn all day, all term and in comfort. 

THE FOOT IS THE CENTRE OF OUR UNIVERSE

Foot health is at the forefront of everything we do. Sole Buddy shoes are a robust force for change, re-building school shoes from the sole up, so that young feet can develop healthily and beautifully. We have used innovative school shoe design and unique features to nurture growing feet to be healthy for life. 

BOOST YOUR NATURAL SHOCK ABSORBERS 

While walking and running, each step can exert pressure on our feet that exceeds our body weight four or five times, adding up to a cumulative force of 500 tons a day!  

Our feet are natural shock absorbers, designed for walking in the natural world rather than a man-made environment. 

Sole Buddy shoes use lightweight rubber with an open cell structure containing more air than standard rubber. It is a great shock absorber due to its natural bounce which in turn helps reduce fatigue and long-term joint health problems. 

FLEX GROOVES

A crucial function of the foot is to aid balance, and toes are a critical aspect of this. The big toe helps in particular, as we grip the ground if we feel we are losing balance. Sole Buddy shoes are designed with great care to flex naturally with the toes and joints as they move.

• Soles engineered with flex grooves - allows for natural foot movement
• Best quality supple leather - increases flexibility
• No seams or overlays in the flex point - movement is uninhibited

GROWTH ROOM  

When a child reaches school age, they are establishing a heel to toe walking motion which is referred to as the gait cycle. Control of this gait cycle will improve over several years. 

At this stage of walking it is important to provide a stable environment for the foot. 

Children's feet grow very quickly at this age so all Sole Buddy shoes are designed with 12mm of built in growing room to ensure that your child 's foot has the space to develop naturally during the life of the shoe.

LIGHTWEIGHT  

Sole Buddy shoes are made using lightweight rubber which has an open cell structure containing more air than standard rubber, to counterbalance the harder man-made surfaces that we now walk on.

Reducing fatigue, increasing energy and natural bounce!

EXTRA COMFORT   

Shoes should not restrict blood flow, rub or cause blistering. Comfort is essential, especially as children will wear school shoes for more than 40 hours a week. 

Sole Buddy shoes are created on an anatomical foot shaped last (form), ensuring that they maintain a natural shape. Extra comfort is added:

• Soft padding around the heel providing all day comfort and a better fit. The padding hugs the heel and reduces slip when the child walks or runs.  No more blisters!
• Purefit TM engineered foam insoles for extra long lasting foot comfort 
• Soft and supple leather is kind and pliable on young feet.

ADDED PROTECTION

The toes and heels of school shoes receive the greatest wear and tear. 

Toe and heel rubberised protection allows children to be active and keep Sole Buddy shoes in top shape. This gives added support to growing feet and increases longevity of the shoes.

RECYCLED MATERIALS

It is important for footwear to be breathable and wick away perspiration. This maintains our natural body temperature and avoids the growth of bacteria which can cause skin problems.

250,000 sweat glands in our feet can produce 1 cup of water per day!

Sole Buddy shoes use a polyester mesh made from 50% recycled water bottles. This woven material is breathable and moisture wicking. A special antimicrobial treatment also keeps feet clean, dry and smelling fresh every day.

EASY FITTING  

First ever downloadable fitting gauge! 

Each pair of Sole Buddy shoes, is fitted via our downloadable Sole Buddy fitting gauge. Designed to be printed and easily constructed with your child, fitting is fun and you can measure accurately and with confidence.    

When it is time to receive your reward.. 

Take a moment to measure your child's foot, following the instructions in our fitting video, so that you can advise the size you require at the time. 

Take note:

There are more nerve endings per square centimetre in the foot than any other part of the body, constantly supplying us with information about the surfaces we walk on without even being aware of it. They tell us whether a surface is hot or cold, rough or smooth or the gradient of the ground. 

Wearing a shoe that fits well, so that feet can make use of this information is vital. All our designs all have adjustable fitting elements to ensure our shoes deliver a comfortable, stable environment for the foot.     

YOUR REWARDS  

Great value rewards from Sole Buddy. Early bird prices offer up to a 30% discount on the full retail price.

• £10        Personalised name labels
• £20        2 sets of personalised name labels
• £35        Early Bird Offer - 1 pair of school shoes RRP £46-£48 Limit 100 pledges
• £40        1 pair of school shoes RRP £46-£48
• £70        Early Bird Offer - 2 pairs of school shoes RRP £92-£96 Limit 100 pledges
• £80        2 pairs of school shoes RRP £92-£96
• £100      Early Bird Offer - 3 pairs of school shoes £112-£116 £150      
• £150      5 pairs of school shoes RRP £230-£240
• £300      10 pairs of school shoes RRP £460-£480  
• £500      School shoes for life! Up to 2 pairs per year RRP approx £1140-£1152
• £1000    School shoes for a whole classroom RRP £1380-£1440

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Do not worry about choosing the correct size. We will email you with a survey after the campaign ends to confirm your shipping address, model and size preferences. Follow the fitting advice above and you can't go wrong.

Sole Buddy shoes are available in 2 seasons; UK sizes 9-2 September 2020 adding UK sizes 3-5 January 2021. Half sizes will be available from January 2021 too.

If your shoe size is unavailable at the time you require, we can offer a pair of Term Footwear shoes in a style of your choosing. You will still be supporting the Sole Buddy campaign and still receive a reward. Alternatively you can wait until Sole Buddy shoes are available. We will keep you informed all along.

View the Term Footwear school shoe range at www.termfootwear.com or contact me [email protected]

DONATE YOUR REWARD 

Crowdfunder has given the go-ahead  for you to donate your reward to a key worker/ NHS staff/ people in need, during this difficult time. We can ship anywhere worldwide.

If you would love to support the Sole Buddy campaign and do not have children, relatives or friends that can receive your reward, you can donate it to a person/charity of your choosing or we can recommend. We will contact you to confirm where you would like them to be sent.

We have launched this campaign during COVID-19 and are starkly aware of the difficulties faced by many people during this time.

We actively encourage you to back us and provide shoes to key workers/ NHS staff/ people in need during this time.  You will be helping someone who really deserves it and also backing a project that looks after their young feet for life.

TIMELINE    

THE SOLE BUDDY RAP

A bit of fun.. we are a kid's brand after all!

We are running a fun lockdown campaign to inspire children to record their own version of our Sole Buddy rap! We want children to enjoy choosing and wearing their school shoes as their young, developing feet will wear them for over 40 hours a week. View our first entry below from Betsy and Nellie..         

CREATED BY EXPERTS  

Sharon - South African born director of the Term Footwear school shoe brand. Founded a school shoe business in 2010, distributing the Toughees school shoes brand from South Africa.

Dan - One of the best UK children's footwear designers with 20+ years experience. An honest and incredibly talented individual (he's too modest to admit this himself, so I said it for him).

Sarita - A true expert in children's shoe-fitting with a vast 20+ years experience in the children's and adult footwear market. A font of all knowledge, I could not have done this without her.

Lincoln - Director/co-founder of the Term Footwear brand, a real talent in sales and communications. A creative force with Sole Buddy, Lincoln can walk and talk this campaign with anyone.

Dola - Expert in footwear development and manufacturing, with 20+ years experience. Anything technical that Dola doesn't know about building children's shoes isn't worth knowing!

Thank you for becoming part of the Sole Buddy story. Please contact us with any questions:

Meet us on socials:  facebook Instagram  Twitter

Contact us:                [email protected]