Prince Harry goes barefoot

Prince Harry has purchased a pair of Vibram Fivefingers and is very much backing the barefoot movement http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2050897/Royal-approval-Prince-Harry-fan-barefoot-running.html.

This is fantastic news for Tobysshoes and our social movement, we have no doubt that we will be seeing more and more of these articles with celebrities moving into the Vibram Fivefingers.

All good news for the Vibram and Tobysshoes.com

In the press

It’s so wonderful to be in the press for this kind of thing…

http://www.annandaleobserver.co.uk/epaper/products/sw_Aug_10/pdfs/article_9_1.pdf

Tradition Vs Values

I’ve just received some disappointing news…  I received a letter this morning from Anila who lives in the SOS orphanage we support in Alwaye, southern India.  She’s just completed a degree in fashion design and is one of the brightest young girls I’ve ever met.  She’s 17.

On 7th November, she has been told that she is to be married and will leave the orphanage to start a new life with her, as yet, unseen husband.

When I last saw her in March I asked her what her plans were now that she has achieved her degree qualifications. “I want to open my own shop, just like your versace shop, but with my own designs.” She told me.

Tradition though doesn’t allow for an orphaned girl to have her own shop…

When Kate and I decided to get married, we gathered all of our family around to tell them.  They were all delighted and planned a big party to celebrate. The excitement and joy of our news soon rippled out to our friends, our family friends and even to people we hardly knew.

When I told Kate and our family about Anila’s marriage, I was met with silence.

Tradition, I think, is important, but could it evolve as our values and beliefs change over time?  Tradition after all comes from the past, and in the past orphaned girls in India didn’t have any opportunities to get a degree or even gain employment.  Marriage is a traditional ceremony, especially in India, but I just wonder whether, at 17, tradition could make way for choice…

It would be wrong for me, a westerner, to try to change the traditions of another country, but I can’t help but feel disappointed that such a young girl is now unlikely to fulfill her dreams.

Thanks for reading. Toby

Help is at hand for new businesses

Over 500 new businesses start up today in the UK and over 450 of them will go bust in 12 months time…  The sad fact is that most people just don’t know how to build a business and make a success out of it…

I do have good news though…  I’ve created an amazing, cheap as chips, full proof product for small businesses and I’ve called it ‘AVideoAWeek’.  Why such a catchy title you ask? Well, because you get a video a week of course…

Every week, I coach you from the basics of business into the complex through my easy to follow coaching videos sent to you every single week for a full year.  All you need to do is take action on each video and as if by magic, you will have a thriving, successful business at the end of it.  My videos include tutorials, tips, guidance and some very special guests and I’m totally proud of what I’ve created for you.

At just £65 per month it’s a must buy for ANYONE in business.

And here it is: https://www.tobyjmccartney.com/video_program.php

It’s a childrens village, not an orphanage

During the Christmas 2009 Toby and I offered our time to work in what we called then, the ‘orphanage’ in Kerala (southern India). We wanted to give our time so that some of the people who worked there could ‘have a break’. Looking back now, we realise how miss guided our perceptions of the SOS village were. Nobody there needed a ‘break’ from their loved ones or from the work and tasks they do for one another. We soon realised why the SOS’s manager’s used the word ‘village’ rather than ‘orphanage’.

From day one we were fully embraced into the homes and families that have been created inside the village. One woman known as the mother is given a home and around 10-14 children to care for.  The children become each other’s brothers and sisters. The village practices inter-faith and so the children of a Hindu family play in the grounds alongside Muslim children, Christian children and Buddhist children. We felt more Christmas spirit, hope and faith in this foreign land that does not even celebrate Christmas, than we have felt for many years in the UK. What little they had was shared with us with great pride. On Christmas day we simply had some tea (somewhat different to the normal amount of food and drink we consume on Christmas day at home) with one of the Mothers we got to know well called Pushpa – we felt completely at home because of the way she, and the childrenr, shared what they had with such generosity and love (it is Pushpa and her children in the picture including Suganthamyol who we personally sponsor).

The SOS village in India gives children with no parents a home, an education, a family and gives unmarried and uneducated woman the incredible job of Mother. This is not an orphanage full of tired people that need a break, but a brilliantly well thought out and planned village that goes some way to being an example of the sign that hangs in the entrance ‘The Children of the World are Everyone’s Responsibility’.

How Can We Support?
The harsh reality is that beyond the gates of this village where around 200 children are homed; there are many more children in need of the opportunities that this village creates. And with more and continued funding the incredible strategies and projects of the SOS can be spread to more of the children in the area. If you would like to help, we are raising £50,000 in 2010 to build new facilities for the children to help as many as we possibly can. Toby will be visiting the children every 6 months and will update you with their progress.
visit http://www.justgiving.com/TobyandKateMcCartney to donate today.

The SOS charity is so important to us and we thank you for taking your time out to help us make a difference.
With love from Toby & Kate xx