Kaos Pilots to help transport Socks for Happy People!
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting with two Kaos Pilots!
Rowan (from Denmark) and Zulma (from Columbia) have recently moved close by (with their adorable newborn Naira) having finished studying at the Arhus Kaos Pilot school in Denmark. They have clearly landed with a cargo packed full of really interesting and innovative ideas and ways of thinking or working that will definately rub off very well on Socks for Happy People!
In fact, I woke up inspired this morning after our talks late into the night about Gross National Happiness (GNH, instead of GDP), well-being, the conscience of a company and being in business in these exciting times. More to come on those fronts in the future.
But for now if you’d like to find out a bit more about these Kaos Pilots, have a look at this video showing what the school and it’s students are all about and check out the link above…
Topics: Economic Steps, Environmental Steps, Happiness, No Work All Play!, Social Steps, Us Happy People 
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Charles, happy at 60
I didn’t know quite what to expect when I settled down to watch ‘Charles at 60′, though I had a vague idea that he is passionate about the environment and fairly active for a monarch.
But when the program ended I can say I was nothing less than inspired! Prince Charles seems to have committed the majority of his life to preserving nature, championing better living and working environments for all and supported young people in the arts and in business - often in the face of widespread (though shortsighted) criticism.
The relatively intimate insight into his life showed a man that appears to be very content, happy even, with a passionate will to act and stand up for what he believes in. Despite there being no obligation on his part he has been more than willing to use his time and his convening power to leave the world a better place. Hopefully the Queen can hang on in there, and let Charles do his thing for a long time to come!
I’d recommend watching ‘Charles at 60′ on BBC i>player while you can
Did you watch it? What did you think? Should we send Prince Charles some of our socks? Click below to leave a comment…
Topics: Happiness, Us Happy People 9 comments »
Socks for happy runners
For being a bit of a sock expert I made a painful mistake yesterday. When getting my gladrags on for a run I hastily chose a different pair of socks to run in than my designated pairs, and have paid the price. Sure, they’re nice socks (by DePio) but they aren’t made for running. An hour later I hobbled back into the house with blisters all over my feet.
The moral of this story? Choose your running socks wisely, or go swimming instead.
And the kitten picture? Well you hardly wanted to see my blisters now did you?
Topics: Happiness, Socks No comments »
Doom and Gloom and Happiness!
Jackie, France - “My 10 year old daughter looked surprised that you should need a reason to be cheerful! She said life just makes her cheerful. Being happy makes other people happy so what more reason do you need?”
Did you hear it? The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 last Friday gave some time the many reasons we can be cheerful in these supposed ‘gloomy times’. Finally!! This is exactly what we’ve been feeling and discussing at Socks for Happy People.
Some people lambasted the media for it’s “over the top” reporting, and felt we were actually talking ourselves into a recession. Others wanted to focus on all the things that they can be happy about that possible recession won’t affect.
All in all it was a lovely break from the doom and gloom that seems to have dominated the headlines and we loved people’s balanced perspectives. Clearly, it could be a difficult time for some people, but ultimately we all probably have a great deal to be happy about.
We’d like to collect your reasons to be cheerful at the moment, as we could all do with hearing an alternative viewpoint! Simply click the comments button below to leave your thoughts.
As a bit of inspiration, here are some of the Radio 2 listeners thoughts…
Michael, West Yorkshire - “It’s the perfect time to count your blessings and look for the good things in life. We don’t have a drought or anything. We should be grateful for what we do have at this time.”
Phylis, Lincolnshire - “We’ve all got plenty, everyone’s got food and as I looked out of my window this morning there were autumn leaves more beautiful than I’ve ever seen this year.”
Liz, Wallacy - “A news report last week showed a mother in Ethiopia feeding her five children mud pies as she had no food for them. We wouldn’t ever have to do that. Do we realise how lucky we are?”
Nigel, County Durham - “Things are slowing down a little, but they haven’t stopped! The vast majority of people are still going to work. But more importantly than that, it’s perhaps making people realise that there’s a lot more to life than money and you don’t have to spend money to have fun or enjoy yourself.”
Go on, add your reasons to be cheerful…
Topics: Happiness, Us Happy People 7 comments »
You buy one pair, and you give another pair for free!
We’re very proud to announce Socks for Happy People’s ‘Buy One Give One Free!’ initiative. The scheme ensures we all make a genuine difference to others with every pair of Socks for Happy People we get our feet into!
It’s really simple. Whenever you buy a pair of our Socks for Happy People, you also buy a pair for someone else, somewhere in the world, who really needs them.
For our first Buy One Give One Free initiative we have partnered with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Mongolia. CNCF does great work supporting street children who often have to endure temperatures as low as -40 degrees C.
Losing their toes to frostbite is not uncommon for these youngsters, who mostly live in underground sewers and have at times dreamed of being put in prison “because it’s warm there”. So, imagine how happy they’ll be when, out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, they receive a brand new pair of (locally made) super warm Bactrian Camel hair socks? Well, there are exactly the kind of socks you will give them for free when you buy your own par of Socks for Happy People. You get quality socks…and so do they, for free! Nice eh?
Topics: Happiness, Our Socks, Social Steps, Socks, Us Happy People No comments »
Questions for Gordon?
No, not the PM, he’s busy enough for the moment I think.
I met a happier Gordon through a bit of volunteering I’ve been doing recently. Gordon is a chirpy 73 year old with a real spring in his step, and I recently found out why. It turns out that he’s spent the majority of his life working in the knitwear industry, mainly as a sock agent! He spent most of his days selling some of the best quality British made socks to some of the largest retailers in the UK and abroad.
Having experienced nearly every job in the sock industry, Gordon finally called it a day about 10 years ago when all but a tiny minority of UK sock manufacturing moved aborad. That said, he still certainly knows a quality pair of dapper socks when he see’s them!
I’m going to try and get a little interview with him so you can all enjoy his passions for socks, and the countless stories he has relating to them. But whatever should I ask this Grand Daddy of the sock industry? Help me out and leave a question or three in the comments section below…
*That’s not Gordon in the photo…but you get the idea, right?
Go on, leave us a comment, or better still leave a question that you’d like me to ask Gordon himself. Just click below…
Topics: Happiness, Socks, Us Happy People 5 comments »
Socks on Dragons Den!
For us, Dragons Den is a nice little bit of homework and it always gives us some fresh perspective on Socks for Happy People.
But last nights Dragons Den, episode 8 and the last in the current series, gave us the best perspective yet! It saw ‘Beyond Boil’, a business with an underlying social mission to bring people together whilst giving skills and employment to the homeless, very literally warm the hearts of the Dragons. They were “amazed” and thought using business for an underlying social good was “absolutely fantastic!”
Another business, Pro Waste Management Services, was set up to do it’s bit for the environment and made a lot of sense to the Dragons, with two of them investing heavily.
But the icing on the cake was when a contestant made their way out of the Den after an unsuccessful pitch. Despite what could run through a contestants mind directly after an unsuccessful pitch this particular contestant simply couldn’t help stop in his tracks and take a moment to celebrate Peter Jones’ socks! He “just [had] to say that they were the coolest sock’s [he'd] ever seen in his whole life!”.
At this the smiles spread instantly throughout the Den and everything that had come before it was forgotten for a few seconds. Everyone was united in good feeling because one person put on a great pair of socks! Brilliant! This is exactly what we believe in, and was even the topic of our first ever blog entry.
So, after all that it surely bodes well for Socks for Happy People making an appearance on the next series…
What do you think? Go on, leave us a comment. Should we apply for the next series?
Topics: Economic Steps, Environmental Steps, Happiness, Social Steps, Socks 5 comments »
Sometimes the best things in life are free
This is nice, eh?
Topics: Happiness, Social Steps 4 comments »
Fair wind wine
Ahoy Mi Hearties!! I see a great idea on the horizon! Sail ships, emitting one-seventh of the carbon emissions of traditional container ships, carrying goods and arriving there or thereabouts on time (depending on mother nature herself of course).
I think we’ll be getting in touch with the company behind ‘Fair Wind Wine’ or similar companies in the future to see if they have any space on their boats!
Would you rather our socks be shipped by sail ships? Leave us a comment and let us know…
Topics: Environmental Steps, Happiness 6 comments »
SFHP heads back to The Sock Drawer
There’s been many benefits of SFHP relocating to an idyllic Swedish Island for a few weeks, and one has the been the farmhouse in which we’ve enjoyed many a long discussion over green tea and umpteen cakes. But with the farmhouse, came the farm next door, and with the farm next door came the frolicking cows, and with the frolicking cows came the flies.
Admittedly they took some getting used to but after a while I found that giving them a good swatting wasn’t necessary - I learned to like the flies, and as such have had two hanging out with me for the last 3days here while I worked. But, SFHP in Sweden must come to a close as we head back Home to The Sock Drawer this weekend.
But I thought I’d say bye to Sweden, and the flies, by posting a note and picture in memory of the flies that didn’t make it off the sticky play mat on the window. Same time, same place, next year little ones…
Topics: India, No Work All Play!, Social Steps, Us Happy People No comments »