PROUD DAD - Charity Socks

Socks that spread awareness, tackle mental health, create communities and generally do a bit of good.

The PROUD DAD socks have been designed as the first in our campaign to use socks to spread a bit of good through charities, awareness and a positive outlook.

PROUD DAD is all about opening up the conversation about fatherhood in society, supporting dads in their needs, celebrating a modern dad who is proud to be a Dad and starting more of a community around fatherhood.

The bold sock design has been created to be a symbol of fatherhood and support for Dads that can be proudly worn!

For every pair of PROUD DAD sock sold, £5.00 will be donated to mental health charity CALM.

THE CAMPAIGN

This year we are supporting raising awareness for mental health and support for people and charities who do great things to remove the stigma and offer often life saving solutions. Sitting within this, we are launching a campaign for Father’s Day celebrate Dads and the position Dads have in society and open up a conversation about fatherhood

 The Proud Dad socks are part of our Father’s Day campaign to support, celebrate and challenge dads and what it means to be a Dad.

The mental health charity we are supporting is CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) with £5.00 from every pair of socks being donated to CALM.

Our founder Lauren talks about our motivation for the campaign and the design:

“When I gave birth to my first baby last year I was so surprised to learn that post-natal depression in Dads is a thing.  Whilst we were incredibly lucky enough not to suffer from this, I still heard my partner talk about how he felt a bit useless for a few months.

And at times I did too but I also had an amazing network of Mums, baby groups and it was so natural for other women to give me advice and share stories.

Now we do have some other great friends who are Dads but there isn’t the same amount of support. I became a bit of a baby group- groupie. I got so much from interaction with other parents, learning about development in the classes and of course spending time with my little boy. Dads are just as welcome at baby groups but it is still really rare.

the reality is, it is still hard. There is pressure to be a ‘great Dad’. There are still judgements, pre-conceived notions and a lack of dialogue about the challenges that Dads face.

So where do dads go to talk about fatherhood, who are the role models, what support is there if they do suffer from something like post natal depression or mental health issues at any point in their childs life.

I think that on the face of it, it seems like a really great time to be a dad with stereotypes being smashed all the time, stay at home dads increasing, shared maternity allowance being made legal and much stronger role models on television and on social media.

But the reality is, it is still hard. There is pressure to be a ‘great Dad’. There are still judgements, pre-conceived notions and a lack of dialogue about the challenges that Dads face.

Breaking down barriers, stereotypes and creating a network for that dialogue is something we really want to support”

THE SOCKS

These socks are about being really proud of the role that modern Dad’s play and using something as simple as a sock design to make an impact.

The idea behind the socks are that these amazing dads use their socks to showcase that they are a Proud Dad – that being a Dad that tells the best bedtime stories, lets their children put pigtails in their hair and can be someone that they talk to about their problems is something to be incredibly proud of

So when you see a fellow Dad in the softplay, at work, in the pub, at the football match, on Facebook, in a restaurant and you spot the distinctive pattern and slogan it unites these Dads – Dads that are doing their best for their children and should be so (so!) proud to be doing it. Uniting Dads with a pair of socks opens up opportunities for conversations, inspiration and just plays a small role in kicking down even more barriers, stereotypes or expectations.

It is also something that we hope feeds into the charity we are supporting. So, for dads who are finding it hard, who have disabilities, who are suffering with mental health, who have to work away – they should still be incredibly proud of themselves and their love for their children. A Dad to be proud of comes in all shapes, sizes and packages.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE

This is a massive attempt to get the conversation going – for the incredible role that Dads play and also the stresses, expectations and support that is or isn’t available.

To help us, please let a Dad know he is doing a great job. Gift these socks so he can feel proud, and support a great charity (£5.00 from every purchase goes to CALM). But if you can share on social media we can get this vital conversation going so effectively

Our top tips to help open up this conversation 

• Get these socks on! Wear them loud and proud and get the conversations going. So choose these as your lucky socks at work. Gift them for your partner, or your Dad.
• Spread the word to get this conversation going – share your stories on Instagram, put up your videos on Facebook and use the hashtag #PROUDDADSOCKS. You can follow our campaign on Instagram @solesmiths or at facebook.com/Solesmith.co.uk
• Check in on your friends, and ask twice
• If you are struggling or have any worries about friends please visit the CALM website for advice, someone to listen and amazing support