SHoOoPS - WE’RE BETTER TOGETHER
AS LEGEND GOES… THE ORIGINAL ‘RED SOCKERS’ WERE SIDNEY FEINSON AND TWO FELLOW SOUTH AFRICAN FRIENDS WHO, WHILST BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP IN ITALY DURING WWII, MADE A PACT THAT SHOULD THEY MAKE IT BACK HOME ALIVE, THEY WOULD WEAR RED SOCKS TO REMEMBER EACH OTHER AND ALWAYS ‘BE TOGETHER’.
INSPIRED BY THIS STORY, TWO SOUTH AFRICAN FRIENDS JOHN MCINROY AND IAN SYMONS, WHO SOUGHT A WAY TO HONOUR THEIR OWN FRIENDSHIP BACK IN 2007, DECIDED IN THE SPIRIT OF REMEMBERING EACH OTHER TO WEAR RED SOCKS EACH FRIDAY TO BE TOGETHER, NO MATTER WHERE LIFE OR THEIR HEARTS WOULD TAKE THEM.
AND SO RED SOCK FRIDAY (ALSO KNOWN AS SHOOOPS!) WAS BORN, BUT OVER THE YEARS IT HAS COME TO MEAN SO MUCH MORE TO ALL WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO PUT ON A PAIR OF RED SOCKS…
IN A WORLD OF DISCONNECTION, IT’S A SIMPLE ACT THAT ALLOWS US TO FEEL CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. WHEN WE WEAR RED SOCKS WE CONSCIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGE SPECIAL CONNECTIONS NEAR AND FAR, AS WELL AS REMEMBER LOVED ONES NO LONGER WITH US.
About Us Get the Socks
I WEAR RED SOCKS ON FRIDAY
AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE HAVE BEGUN TO WEAR RED SOCKS IT HAS BECOME A SYMBOL TO REMIND US THAT WE ARE ALL ONE, WE ARE ALL FAMILY AND THAT WE ARE ALL HERE FOR EACH OTHER. IT’S ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF UBUNTU – ‘I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE’.
WHAT’S MORE IS THAT PUTTING ON RED SOCKS MEANS YOU ARE PART OF A SOCIAL MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE, DRIVEN THROUGH SOCK SALES AND THE BIRTH OF THE UNOGWAJA CHALLENGE. ALL PROFITS FROM SOCKS AS WELL AS THE CHALLENGE GO TO UPLIFTING AND EMPOWERING THROUGH EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, MAKING THE IDEAL OF ‘BETTER TOGETHER’ A REALITY FOR ALL.
The StoryMaking a Difference
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The Spirit
THE SPIRIT OF THE RED SOCKS HAS SPREAD FROM SOUTH AFRICA ACROSS THE WORLD AND THEY ARE NOW WORN IN OVER 70 COUNTRIES.
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The Initiative
ALL PROFITS FROM EACH PAIR OF SOCKS SOLD GOES TO THE UNOGWAJA CHARITABLE TRUST, INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA.
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The Good Work
THE UNOGWAJA CHARITABLE TRUST INVESTS IN COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS WHICH FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT.