Kids are being given a fashionable way to express themselves with the launch of a new colourful brand of wellies.
Entrepreneur and mother-of-two Amanda Wooldridge came up with the idea for Squelch after her children complained about wearing the same pair of wellies over and over again.
Instead of buying multiple pairs of boots Amanda designed a pair of see-through wellies, which can be customised by wearing different socks.
Explaining how she came up with the idea, she said: “I have a couple of kids who are four and six years old and they love their wellies but they get bored of wearing the same ones all year round.
“I was tripping over wellies and the idea came into my mind. With Squelch you have one pair of wellies but you can switch up the look with different socks.
“It started out as a problem solving idea, then it scaled up from there.”
Amanda, 37, of Alnwick, Northumberland, trialled her idea at the 2019 Spring Fair in Birmingham to find out whether people would be interested in buying the wellies for their kids.
She also speaks to her children, four-year-old Alice and six-year-old Thomas, and their friends about which of the sock designs they like, to make sure they are interesting for kids.
The socks come in a number of different designs, from colourful spots and stripes to those with animals on them, such as octopuses and toucans. Other socks have been made to look like ballerina shoes or a skeleton feet.
Amanda has recently sourced a manufacturer in China capable of making the wellies, and she is expecting her first delivering of 2,000 boots to arrive in the next few weeks.
Customers are able to pre-order Squelch wellies on the company’s website, but will also be able to find the boots on sale in selected stores in Alnwick in the next few months.
You will also be able to find Squelch wellies on sale at the Alnwick Mighty Dub Festival in June, as well as the Glendale Show.
The wellies have been designed for children between the age of three and six. The boots costs £16, while the socks cost £3.50 per pair. However, the Squelch package costs £24 and comes with a pair of boots and three pairs of socks.
Squelch will also use the sale of its wellies to raise money for a good cause.
“We are a charitable brand, so 10% of our profits go to the Trussle Trust, a national food bank charity,” said Mrs Wooldridge.
“Moving forward we really want to so something called a Welly Walk and we are trying to organise that for the end of November. It’s all about encouraging families to get together. They will wear their welly boots and at the end of it they will get a healthy snack.”
Squelch is also running a competition where children can enter their own sock design.
Along with winning the Squelch package, the winning design will be made into a real sock and added to the company’s collection.
