Posted: by Jo Monday, 25 October 2021 @ 16:20
Over the last year, our on-going #mybestself
campaign has been focused on our charity partners. We decided to focus on the
women and men who set up, or work in, the charities which we support
through our ‘Mantra Changes Lives’ initiative.
Does it take a particular kind of person to
devote their working life to helping people? Is it a calling? Or did an event
occur in their lives which drew them to this work?
Over the year, we interviewed founders and fundraisers,
volunteers and managers, finding out more about what drew them to the charity
in the first place.
We spoke to the amazing founder of Think
Equal, Leslee Udwin, and Annie Belasco, Head of Charity at
PANDAs.
We spoke to fundraisers and volunteers,
including Katie Quick at Mind, Sarah Knight at Care
International, Sian Averill at NHS Charities Together, Ann Giles
at Bullying UK, and Rory Field at Trees for Cities.
We spoke to someone working on Corporate
Partnerships - Sarah Wyns, at Women for Women International. And we also
spoke to our collaborator, Chloe Brotheridge, who chooses to donate her
commission for working with us, to the Rainforest Alliance.
Some were drawn to work for a charity because
of their own personal experience, or their family heritage; others wanted to
help vulnerable people, or volunteer in an area that really helped people in
need.
Others were drawn to doing something
meaningful, and then later discovered a talent for fundraising.
And for many, it was a cause that they felt
passionately about, like Chloe’s dismay about rainforest destruction, or
Leslee’s anger at prejudice and discrimination.
In all cases, I was moved and humbled by their
dedication to the causes they work for. It has been an incredibly difficult
period for charities, so any fundraising and awareness-raising that we can do
to help them is greatly appreciated.
Take a look at our whole charity collection,
Mantra Changes Lives, just here.
In 2022, our #mybestself campaign will
focus on our collaborators – like-minded women who have an inspiring message to
share, whom we work with to create empowering necklaces that bring that message
powerfully to life.