Charity / Let’s Go Schwopping With M&S

“Marks & Spencer (M&S) have embarked on a new project ‘Shwopping‘, whereby they are encouraging their customers to ‘shwop’ – swapping their unused garments in exchange for a 5GBP voucher which they can use towards purchasing new clothes at M&S. As part of this new campaign, M&S has covered an old truman brewery warehouse in east london, with unused clothes donated by the community to encourage their shoppers to recycle their garments by donating them to charity and decrease waste.

More than 1,200 ‘shwop drop’ boxes have been placed in numerous M&S locations around the UK, whereby the community can pitch their unwanted threads to be recycled and sold by Oxfam to help support those living in poverty.”
Via Designboom

Selling Hope To Everyone

My lovely creative friends Simon and Hannah at JWT have come up with a great idea – it’s a charity initiative which aims to make it easier for shoppers to give small donations to charity while doing the weekly shop. Wooden blocks engraved with the word ‘hope’ are currently on the shelves of two Budgens stores in London, which can be scanned at the checkout for a £1 donation to be sent automatically to the Alzheimer’s Society (and then the block is returned to the shelf for the next buyer). I really hope we’ll soon see these blocks everywhere.
Txx

Letters To Haiti – Documentary By Coco Rocha, Behati Prinsloo And James Conran

By Rosie Dalton at Oyster Magazine
Supermodel bestfriends Coco Rocha and Behati Prinsloo put their fame and success to good use when they embarked on a charitable trip to Haiti. Following 2010′s devastating earthquake that caused irreparable damage to the small nation, Rocha and Prinsloo were saddened by the country’s continuing deprivation and decided to do something about it. Partnering with LakayPam — an organization dedicated to helping children in developing nations meet their basic needs — the models collected and delivered hundreds of letters of hope from all over the world and helped raise funds. The letters offered words of encouraging support and sentiments of solidarity.

When the girls actually made the journey to Haiti, they were accompanied by Rocha’s husband, James Conran, who filmed their experiences, her agent, a cameraman and his friend. The resulting short film, Letters To Haiti, directed by Conran, debuted last week at Milk Gallery in New York and is now available to watch and be inspired by. The celebrity turn-out at the premiere included designers Zac Posen and Rebecca Minkoff, as well as fellow models Hilary Rhoda and Karlie Kloss, all of whom were inspired by the charitable journey of Rocha and Prinsloo. Behati Prinsloo’s black and white prints of the Haitian children were also sold in a silent auction on the night, with all proceeds going to LakayPam.

Photography: James Conran and Behati Prinsloo.
www.lakaypam.org

The Secret Millionaire

Tonight I’ve watched yet another episode of the tear-jerker that is “The Secret Millionaire”. Each week, a self-made millionaire gives up their creature comforts and homelife and transports themselves to another city, on the lookout for empowering charities who selflessly help others in impoverished communities. The millionaires pretend to be anything but – documentary-makers mostly – as they get to know the local community. At the end comes the big reveal, “I’m not who I’ve said I am, I’m actually a successful businessperson and I would like to give you this cheque for…” Normally tens of thousands of pounds which will make a huge huge difference to the charity. Cue the tears – giver, recipient and viewer (me) – the millionaire also discovers something about themselves and there you have it – an absolute winner of a show.

You can watch lots of previous episodes here on 4onDemand. Get your tissues ready though…
Txx

Charity / Pudsey Bear Redesigned For Children In Need

I’m doing so many charity posts, I’ve given it a category all to itself. Well, why not – we should all be doing our bit, however small or large.

Children in Need have now launched their stunning Designer Pudsey Collection, which has seen a number of fashion designers (including Erdem, Henry Holland, Katie Hillier, Louis Vuitton, Patrick Grant, Pringle, Giles Deacon, Jonathan Saunders, Liberty, Mulberry, PPQ and Topshop) use their creative flair and remarkable talents to create their very own unique version of the iconic Pudsey Bear.

The traditional yellow Pudsey has been recreated in an array of different fabrics from suede to leather; in a rainbow of different colours; from silver to blue, and in a variety of different patterns; from tartan to floral. Each fashion Pudsey is unique and will allow fans of both the Bear and the designers the opportunity to own a piece of fashion history.

Click here to browse through all the designs, with links to their Ebay pages where bidding as already begun. You can also find much more information on the whole Children in Need fundraising effort.

I noticed that the Louis Vuitton bear is not there in the main lineup – must have been too busy to appear at the press shoot – but he is currently attracting a lot of attention over on Ebay (Update: after 50 bids, he achieved a grand total of £35,600).
Txx

Louis Vuitton's Designer Pudsey designed by Kim Jones & Katie Grand