122 beautiful umbrellas bring joy and a smile to 11 different charities right across the UK
We smiled at A Good Thing when we spotted 122 beautiful umbrellas being uploaded by Preseli to the platform recently. Preseli is a north Wales-based promotional merchandise firm that has become a huge supporter of A Good Thing in the past few months, and we were just delighted when Jan Alder, Compliance Officer for the business, decided to give away Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish and English-themed umbrellas that were no longer needed by its clients.
Keeping the rain away all over the country
Thanks to Preseli’s generous willingness to post the umbrellas, they reached no fewer than 11 different charities, spread right across the country. From Swansea Asylum Seekers Support to Rise & Shine Lancashire and the Anthony Seddon Fund, two charities that do amazing work with people with mental health issues. Also a wonderful Cornish charity supporting people living with multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions, and a Leeds-based charity supporting some of the most vulnerable and desperate women in that area.
The England umberellas at thier new home, Improving Lives Nottingham
One of the many charities that benefited was the Little Edi Foundation in Chelmsford. Tess Griggs, the charity’s director, told us how vital its work is: unbelievably, one in three children in the UK are now living in poverty. The Little Edi Foundation supports disadvantaged children, young people and families with a community hub, food distribution and a community coffee morning once a month.
Tess was delighted to be chosen to receive some umbrellas from Preseli:
“Even a cheap umbrella is out of the realms of possibility for all of the people we work with. People are stuck in a huge poverty trap. These umbrellas were marvellous, really great quality, and Preseli posted them to me literally the next day. The whole thing really was terribly easy. You’re doing a great job!”
Tess went on to explain a little more about the people her charity supports:
“At the community coffee morning, parents are very good at only taking the things that they need. All of our parents walk here, they don’t have cars. In autumn and winter the school run can be a nightmare, parents just get drenched. I explained to Preseli why we would use the umbrellas and they were impressed.”
Umbrellas for a deprived area of Cardiff
Another charity that benefited from the umbrellas was Caerau Ely Youth Zone (CEYZ). The charity works closely with young people and their families in an area of Cardiff that has a very high level of poverty due to unemployment, and where families struggle to feed themselves.
Nicola Brydon, the charity’s Director, talked to us about her experience of using A Good Thing:
“I found it very easy to sign up and find the items available. When I put my request in for the umbrellas, I was kept updated with how my request was going. When I was lucky enough to be chosen for the donation, I was put in touch with the company. Delivery was arranged and the umbrellas were received a couple of days later. This process was very well organised and informative.”
CEYZ’s activities are aimed at children and young people who are most at risk of suffering poor mental health. The charity focuses on working with harder-to-reach groups of children and young people to help promote healthy lifestyles and resilience, among other things. We asked Nicola what CEYZ will use the umbrellas for:
“The umbrellas will be used for outdoor projects with young people in the area when the weather is not too good, this includes gardening and outdoor arts and crafts.”
The BPMA is leading the way
Jan Alder explained that sustainability is now at the heart of what Preseli is doing with its promotional merchandise business. The firm carefully checks out the sustainability credentials of the factories it uses (which Jan says is a big effort and can be really challenging), and is looking for more environmentally-safe routes for sourcing its products. So Jan was excited when she heard about A Good Thing at the British Promotional Merchandise Association’s (BPMA) Sustainability Conference in June:
“We had been concerned about some elements of repurposing – so knowing that things will be used by a charity and won’t be sold on is wonderful. The BPMA has been fantastic, a lot of what we’re doing is through them and inspired by them. They run great webinars, and brilliant information is provided. Our customers are getting all the same advice, we’re really working together as a group.”
Jan explained that for a while Preseli had been putting goods to one side when they were no longer needed: but how do to dispose of them? Jan explains:
“When we heard about A Good Thing, it was ideal. Ideal and simple to use. There have been no hiccups at all, it’s been so nice, and really nice to deal directly with charities. And the umbrellas really touched us: one charity told us that an umbrella is a luxury item for many people, which really stopped us in our tracks.”
Expanding in the ‘right’ way
Preseli is growing, but it is determined to be sure it is expanding in the right way. As Jan says:
“It’s nice to be out there in front, and not waiting to be told what to do, but at the same time we’re very wary of greenwashing. We’ve been wanting to look at our products, but also at the community side of things: repurposing things, passing them on, giving back to the local community. We’ve just joined the Flint litter-pickers’ group, and are hoping Preseli will become a ‘litter-free business zone’.”
Within the company, there is a lot going on to raise awareness, as Jan tells us:
“Our marketing manager has recently been a running competition within the business around repurposing leftover lanyards: we were challenged to think about what we could do with them. One of my colleagues made a shopping bag from lanyards… it looked really good! Another made a door curtain – one of those curtains that keeps the flies out – out of lanyards! (We’re actually starting to supply paper lanyards, we’re launching those this week.)”
Jan tells us the firm was happy to cover the cost of getting the umbrellas to where they needed to go, and has tantalising things to say about what Preseli may be giving away next:
“We paid for postage. We use a courier service, so it was cheaper than Royal Mail, and really not a huge amount. We were happy to pay. But there will be more umbrellas coming, as well as lanyards, and other things. A Good Thing is a really wonderful organisation: well done to you and your husband!”
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