The Business Design Centre really gets down to business with more valuable donations
A Good Thing is an online platform that allows businesses to give things away to their local charities. The case study below is an example of the wonderful impact that can be made through these matches.
Donor: Business Design Centre
Location: London
What was donated:
2 pink-painted fences
1 black A-board pavement sign
25 glasses and 10 plates
80 lined notebooks
Sector: Events
Charities that benefitted:
Response Community Projects
Growing Hope
Hawa Trust
Finding Rhythms
International Centre for Integration and Cohesion
The Business Design Centre (BDC) is no stranger to giving. The bustling home of exhibitions in north London is a B Corp meaning there’s no doubt about its strong commitment to sustainability. As a long-time annual supporter of A Good Thing, the BDC has donated an incredible variety of items via the platform so far – from board games to umbrellas – positively changing many, many lives.
And this trend continued with its latest brilliant donations of pretty pink-painted fences, an A-board pavement sign, glasses, plates and lined notebooks.
Tickled pink
Response Community Projects in west London was tickled pink to receive the two brightly-coloured fences. This community-focused charity is passionate about supporting local people: when the fences arrived, CEO Sheraine Williams planned to use them to manage the charity’s foodbank queue. However, things were to take a different turn: an exciting opportunity arose to use the fences as props in some creative workshops, as Sheraine explains:
“The fences allowed participants to easily start their designs without attaching them to random items. The hooks meant several people could work at once, resulting in some incredible craft pieces.”
A sign of hope
A black A-board pavement sign travelled to Growing Hope a London charity that provides free therapy for children with additional needs. The sign will be useful for the many shows and events held by the charity.
The Hawa Trust’s work can’t be ignored. This east London charity is anti-FGM (female genital mutilation), determined to protect every woman from a harmful tradition that exists not only in the UK, but also in countries such as Sierra Leone. The charity’s measures are focused on education, tied with local outreach that can help empower women.
The BDC’s 25 glasses and 10 plates were matched with the Hawa Trust, where director Hawa Sessay told us:
“Truly, the items that your organisation donates to us helps our women and girls a lot.”
Building confidence through writing
Finally, 80 lined notebooks went to Finding Rhythms and the International Centre for Integration and Cohesion The London-based Finding Rhythms charity uses music to create a safe space. It supports its community by arranging creative projects in spaces like prisons, allowing people to build confidence and grow by having the opportunity to write and record their own music.
We were delighted to hear from Catherine Bullough from Finding Rhythms about how some of the notebooks would be used in the creative process, “allowing participants to create and develop their lyrics as they move through our projects week to week”.
Catherine was thrilled with the speed and efficiency of her engagement with the platform:
“The whole process – from registering my interest to collecting the notebooks – was complete in less than 24 hours. Super easy!”
Notebooks were also matched with the London-based International Centre for Integration and Cohesion. Amir Taki told us the books would be used in sessions to help young people with financial literacy.
Changing communities
Each and every one of these donations has had an immediate and powerful impact on charities scattered across London. Here at A Good Thing, it’s our mission to continue to connect organisations and change lives.
As Kirsty Jakulis from the BDC reminded us: “Even small items like these can make a meaningful difference.”