LUSH VOLUNTEERS VISIT GAMBIA

04/01/2010 · Leave a Comment

Fresh Start Foundation, Gambia

Throughout 2009 we supported Worcester based charity, the Fresh Start Foundation, who work in Gambia to help vulnerable children. When we invited Fresh Start’s co-founder, Lamin Daffeh, to give a presentation to all our shop managers in July 2009 everyone was so inspired by their work that we immediately started organising a trip for 15 staff to volunteer for the charity. We have staff from our factory, shops and head office coming along; 3 of which from Scotland and 1 from Ireland!

Rebecca and Lamin, founders of Fresh Start

We’ll be helping to renovate the school, plant trees and veggies, teach English, make soap and batiks, repair fencing, design and paint maps of Africa and Gambia for the school and we’ve also teamed up with the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust who will be coming along to help local people look after their animals.

We’re also taking books, games, music and photos so we can share a bit of our lives with the people of Gambia too.

We leave for Gambia 5 January 2010 and will be out there for 10 days. We can’t wait and promise to share our experience with you through photos and film on our return. It’s going to be a life-changing experience for all involved I’m sure!

Find out how we’re getting on by visiting our website www.lush.co.uk.

We've given Fresh Start a donation from Charity Pot

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Lamin does it again!

29/07/2009 · Leave a Comment

Last week we had our Lush international meeting. I was asked to give a presentation about charitable giving and decided to invite Lamin Daffeh from the Fresh Start Foundation to speak too, since he was such a great hit at our store managers’ meeting in June (more…). What happened after his presentation was really incredible, and way beyond what I had ever imagined!

The Fresh Start Foundation was set up by Lamin and his wife Rebecca in 2006 and works in The Gambia, West Africa, to improve education, sanitation and access to water with a particular focus on orphaned children who are vulnerable to exploitation and often end up in the sex trade. Lamin and Rebecca have funded most of the work themselves since the charity was founded and when their beautiful baby, Safia, came along a year ago they were unsure whether they would be able to continue. As a last resort Lamin took part in the TV game show Deal or No Deal but went away with just £20. We gave them a grant from our Charity Pot of £6,500 to help them renovate the school and have also given them a pallet of soap to send over, but there is so much more than needs to be done to help this community, the very same community Lamin grew up in.

Our lovely director Ro was so inspired by Lamin’s story and his work in The Gambia that she decided to run a raffle and ran around getting Lush bags signed by the founders and all other sorts of Lush goodies from around the world. In my experience, you’re lucky to raise a few hundred pounds with a raffle, but this was a raffle with a difference! Ro and her team of eager raffle ticket sellers managed to persuade people to buy £10, £20, £50, and even for one person, £104 worth of raffle tickets! A note for any fundraisers out there, the best line for selling raffle tickets has to be “I’ve just bought £50 worth, how many are you going to buy?” It worked an absolute treat! Before long over a thousand pounds had been raised, and then our friends at Lush in Japan offered to match the total sum raised for the evening!

By around 10.30pm, we called Lamin and Rebecca to let them know that we had raised an amazing £4,000! Last year, the Fresh Start Foundation’s total income was £10,000, which was mostly their own money, so you can imagine what £4,000 meant to them. They were totally speechless. It was also brilliant timing as just a couple of weeks ago a storm hit the school in The Gambia and some of the buildings due to be renovated were practically knocked to the ground.

But it didn’t end there! Ro then came up with the brilliant idea of running an auction. All kinds of crazy things were on offer; a kiss from our North American director Mark Wolverton, a lock of hair from our campaign manager Andrew Butler, Aunty Pamela’s bag woven from old plastic bags… People were bidding like mad, I dare say perhaps something to do with a belly full of beer by that point! And finally, past midnight, the auction came to and end and the total raised was over £16,500!! I couldn’t believe it!

When Lamin and Rebecca got the news they were in tears – their dreams to dramatically improve the lives of children in The Gambia had just taken a massive step forward. For a start, the Kwinella School is sure to be one of the best in the country! But most importantly, their plans to set up the first ever community centre for orphans and other vulnerable children is now almost within reach.

No-one imagined that so much would be raised, least of all Lamin and Rebecca. It just goes to show how generous people can be when they are touched and inspired by others who go to such great lengths to make the world a better place. It’s a great feeling to know we were able to help.

We’re now planning a Lush trip out to The Gambia so we can help as volunteers to renovate the school and other projects, such as helping out in the vegetable garden, teaching english and planting trees. Already we have double the amount of staff on the list that we can actually take! It’s sure to be a life-changing experience and I can’t wait!

Please join us in our support of the Fresh Start Foundation by visiting www.justgiving.com/lushfreshstartfoundation. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Sophie xx

PS If you want to read about how we first met Lamin and what happened the first time he came to talk to us at Lush please visit; www.lushcharitypot.co.uk/2009/06/26/fresh-start-foundation

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Carbon Tax

16/07/2009 · 1 Comment

So, you know we support charities through Charity Pot and campaigns, but have you heard about our Carbon Tax?

When you work for an international organisation sometimes you really need to get on a plane to meet your colleagues and customers. We don’t like doing it, but sometimes there’s no avoiding it. Our hard working environment officer, Ruth, is doing a great job to reduce the impact of our flights. Firstly, in the UK we’ve banned internal flights, and also for overseas flights we now  tax ourselves £50 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions created by the flight and donate the money to environmental groups (especially those working on transport issues and climate change) that will help to make a difference.

Good news is, that since we’ve been charging the Carbon Tax our international flights have reduced! Less money for the environmental groups, but I’m sure they’ll agree that’s a great result; nice one Ruth!

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People Power!

15/07/2009 · Leave a Comment

Over the last few years we’ve supported a number of community groups desperately trying to fight developments, such as roads, from destroying their local environment. These individuals show great courage and determination in taking on the considerably richer and more powerful developers and I’m very happy to share with you some brilliant success stories!

Dinedor Hill Action successfully proved that a housing development was proposed by the council solely as a way to get funding for the Rotherwas access road, which leads to the industrial estate. They stopped the housing development going ahead and beautiful unspoilt countryside, including wooded hills and gentle river valleys full of wildlife. More…

The Campaign Against Levels Motorway stopped a road going ahead that would have wrecked the Gwent Levels and the habitats of water voles, otters and breeding waders – lapwing, snipe, redshank and curlew. More…

The White Horse Alliance stopped a bypass that threatened to destroy countryide, such as a chalk valley, and pollute a local water source in the area. More…

Jericho Community Boatyard had a narrow escape from being converted into luxury apartments. More…

I hope this is an inspiration to all the other community groups out there facing similar battles.

Sophie xx

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Success – Westbury Bypass rejected

07/07/2009 · Leave a Comment

Today I received some amazing news about the campaign against the Westbury Bypass, which we supported pre-Charity pot. They won their case! The bypass threatened to destroy countryide such as a chalk valley and pollute a local water source in the area so this is a tremendous victory for the environment, congratulations White Horse Alliance and all those involved in the campaign!

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Late last week we got some fantastic news: the Westbury Bypass was rejected by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. His decision backed up that of the planning inspector from the public inquiry. The scheme was categorically thrown out – not enough vehicles, not the right solution, appalling landscape impact. Having spoken to the Department for Transport (who sounded somewhat relieved) the scheme won’t be coming back for a very, very long time indeed – if ever.

The local group, the White Horse Alliance, fought a fantastic battle throughout the public inquiry, and provided more than enough information to enable the inspector to reject it. They’re understandably over the moon, especially because rumours that the scheme was about to be approved, doubtless started by Wiltshire Council, had been floating around over the past couple of weeks.

Victories like this, with such categorical rejection of the case for road building, don’t come along as often as we like, so I thought you’d appreciate being informed, and also wanted to thank you for your much-needed financial support. With a number of other road schemes coming up for public inquiry, we hope this is the beginning of a sensible approach to transport…

To find out more about the campaign, please visit their website www.westbury-wilts-bypass.info

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Fresh Start Foundation

26/06/2009 · 1 Comment

It all started with an episode of Deal or No Deal; and resulted in over 100 Lush shop managers weeping and pledging their support to an amazing charity!

Lamin on deal or no dealAt this point I have to confess I am a bit of a fan of Deal or No Deal. Often I get back from work and stick on More4 to watch the repeat, put my feet up and have a nice cup of tea. Usually people go on the show to win thousands of pounds to go on a nice holiday or buy a flashy sports car. I have to say, I’m not always very kind when those contestants go home with 10p. But now and again, you get someone who really wants to make a difference with the money they win. On 8 May was Lamin Daffeh’s turn.

Lamin grew up in The Gambia and came to England in 1998. He currently works for a charity helping people with drug and alcohol addictions, which you would think would be enough of a contribution to the world for most people, but not for Lamin. He also runs the Fresh Start Foundation, with his wife Rebecca. Fresh Start works in the very community that Lamin grew up, focusing on improving education and sanitation and particularly taking care of the many orphans, who are vulnerable to abuse. Sadly, there are many cases of sexual abuse of children, often fuelled by the tourist trade. RebeccaLamin and Rebecca have so far funded all the work of the Fresh Start Foundation themselves, despite not having much money themselves. They also have a baby daughter, Safia, and when she arrived, they were unsure whether they could afford to continue with their work. Deal or No Deal was their last chance.

As soon as I heard the story I was hooked, and unlike with the contestants who long to buy their first Porche, I desperately wanted Lamin to win the £250,000. But then the £250,000 went, as did the £100,000 and the £75,000. It was not looking good. The final two boxes were £500 and £10, and even though the banker had agreed to double the money, everyone was so disappointed for Lamin. The final box was opened; £10. Silence. Noel comforted Lamin by saying that he felt this was just the beginning, that lots of people would track him down on the web and that he would find the support he needs for Fresh Start.

Like many others watching, I thought about getting in touch. But like Noel said, lots of people will, there’s no need for me to aswell. But in the end I decided to track him down and send an email and I’m so happy that I did.

This week we had a managers’ meeting with over 100 of our shop managers and other staff. We invited Lamin to come along to talk to everyone. Endemol, who make Deal or No Deal, were really helpful and sent along the DVD of the episode in just a couple of days, so I was able to show everyone what had happened on the show (thank you Endemol!). When I invited Lamin up on the stage everyone was so excited to see him!

LaminNow, I knew from chatting with Lamin on the phone what an amazing person he is, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how inspirational he would be. Half the room were in tears during his presentation and at the end, everyone was speechless. The only comment being something on the lines of “we often hear about people being inspirational, but when that really happens you get butterflies in your stomach and goosebumps, and you feel like you must do something. And that is exactly how I am feeling right now”.

We gave Fresh Start a grant from our Charity Pot to renovate the Kwinella school, where Lamin went, and to build new toilets. Many of our staff have also pledged to make monthly donations through Give As You Earn to help the future work of Fresh Start and there’s also a small team of people who are already planning a trip out to Gambia to volunteer!

There were other people who contacted Lamin after the show, but the total raised was just £7,000, which is not a huge amount considering how many people watch the show (over 4 milion). I think Noel made a mistake when he said that everyone would contact Lamin, I think this just resulted in many people thinking, as I did, that their help wasn’t needed. Never leave it to someone else, you could be missing the chance to help people like Lamin and Rebecca make a huge difference to people who really need it.

If you’d like to help the Fresh Start Foundation, please visit the website: www.fsfgambia.org

Sophie xx

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Who wants to talk about toilets?

18/05/2009 · Leave a Comment

We all know how essential toilets are for sanitation, but I bet you never thought that the simple toilet can improve education, women’s safety and the ability to grow food did you?

WTN logoMe and Nicki from the Design Team had the pleasure of meeting Wherever the Need’s co-founder, David Crossweller, just over a week ago. What he told us about their work was so inspiring that we decided we had to get them involved with our new window about washing your hands. Wherever the Need (WTN) work with local charities in India, Sierra Leone and Kenya to improve hygiene standards, sanitation and access to clean water. They train communities to build toilets, wells and water collection points, as well as teaching good hygiene practices.

One of their main projects is to provide special ‘Eco San’ toilets which turn ‘waste’ (or as David prefers to call it, ‘resource’) in to germ-free compost and fertiliser. These toilets not only improve sanitation but also enhance self-respect and dignity by providing privacy and help people to feed themselves. It really is a fantastic invention.

TapMillions of people in the world don’t have access to a toilet, besides the severe health risks, it can also impact education. When there are no toilets mothers keep their girls home when they are menstruating which means they miss a week of school every month. WTN helped to provide toilets for a community in India and set up a link with a women’s co-operative which makes sanitary towels and now the school attendance has greatly improved.

Privacy and safety is another issue. For the millions of girls and women who don’t have access to a toilet, there is only one option – to go outside instead. For privacy, they usually choose just before sunrise and just after sunset to relieve themselves, which happens to be the time of greatest risk of being bitten by a scorpion, snake or spider – or being attacked. Toilets save lives, in more ways than one!

To find out more about Wherever the Need, please visit their website:

http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk

Also, take a look at their Dinners for Dignity campaign; you just simply need to do organise a meal and invite all your friends to come along and make a donation towards WTN’s work. Read all about it here:

http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk/dignity.htm

6,000 people a day die as a result of poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation and unsafe water. Please help if you can.

Sophie xx

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Charity Pot is 2 years old!

22/04/2009 · 1 Comment

We’re soon (ish) going to have some lovely new charity pages on the Lush website. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some information on the charities and other causes we’ve supported over the last two years on this blog (which is still being developed, I’m getting there).

charitypot-reprieveSince the launch of Charity Pot two years ago (April 2007), we have donated an amazing £267,498.73 to 58 charities and other good causes both here in the UK and overseas. Thank you all so much for buying the Charity Pot and making all this possible.

We decided to prioritise those charities which really struggle to secure funding, where relatively small donations make a huge difference. Therefore, many of our grants have gone to small, grassroots organisations and especially those working for causes which find it hard to raise funds.

Please do explore this website to find out about all the projects we’ve supported, if any of them interest you, visit their websites and find out more about their work and how you can get involved. They’ll be thrilled to hear from you.

Sophie xx

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