Giving back in 2020: it's not about what we make, it's what we make happen

As we approach the end of 2020, we wanted to take a moment to pause, reflect, and say thank you for the ways in which our supporters have helped us to help others this year. 

At The Crafty Kit Company, we’ve built a business with giving at its heart. Our mission is to impact lives through inspiration, creativity, and fun. When we create our craft kits in our East Lothian workshop, and ship them around the UK, Europe, and even further afield, we do so hoping that they will bring moments of joy and relaxation, wherever their destination. 

When you support a small, independent business, whether by purchasing from them, following and sharing their work online, or telling others about them, you're also supporting the communities in which they operate, and in a challenging year for so many of us, we’re thrilled that we have been able to expand our team in 2020, creating new opportunities in our local area. 

But when you buy a craft kit from us, you are not only helping to support us here in Scotland, you’re also making amazing things happen for the people and places that need it most. You might have noticed the B1G1 logo on our kits, and on the product pages of our website: it stands for Buy-1-Give-1, an initiative that allows companies to give back by contributing to good causes throughout the world, all of which are in line with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

B1G1’s mission statement is to create a world that’s full of giving, and with their - and your - help, we’re aiming to become a Business for Good, too. When we joined the B1G1 community, we made a commitment that for every kit we sold, we would donate one ‘impact’, and by purchasing our kits so far you have helped us to give:

• 35,806 days of access to life-saving clean water to people in Malawi
• 86 meals to a family in quarantine
• 1,466 days of access to an income-generating tool to disadvantaged women
• 142 meals to adult koala patients
• 6 trees to nurture the environment and save orangutans in Borneo
• 5,294 days of access to life-saving clean water to families in Ethiopia

So every time you buy a Crafty Kit Company kit, whether as a treat for yourself or a gift for others, your purchase creates a ripple effect, and contributes to a global community that is changing the world.

You can follow our progress with B1G1, and the impacts that you help us make, via our Giving Back page here. 

Alongside our partnership with B1G1, we knew that when we launched our first needle felting subscription box this year, we wanted to seize the opportunity that it offered to help other good causes, too. For every subscription box that we sell, we donate £1 to the Edinburgh Headway Group, a charity that aims to empower and enrich the lives of adults who have survived an acquired brain injury. It’s a cause close to our hearts at The Crafty Kit Company, and we’d like to thank everyone who has subscribed, purchased a one-off box, or gifted a subscription to others. We are incredibly grateful to you for helping us to give back in this way, contributing to Headway’s vital work, which you can learn more about here. If you would like to make a personal donation to support the Edinburgh Headway Group, you can do so via their Just Giving account here.

Last, but by no means least, we know how important our four-legged friends have been in keeping so many of us sane(ish) through the ups and downs of a difficult year. Our resident cats (and occasional canine visitors) bring many moments of light relief at Crafty Kit HQ, and since 2018 we’ve been delighted to team up with one of our favourite local charities, Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home. We designed our Miniature Wirehaired Dachshund needle felting kit with EDCH in mind and we are delighted to donate some of the profit from every kit sold. If you know someone who might want to support Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home in the fantastic work that they do, please do share this post, or EDCH’s website, with them. 

Once again, thank you, and wherever you are, we hope that 2021 brings you joy, and lots of craft-filled fun!

xoxo

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