Where to buy gifts with a positive impact

This is a gift list for employees that care. At Escape the City and Supply Change we know that today’s workforce places high value on the positive impact created in their career. Just as we want our work to create good, we want to spend our hard-earned pay with brands that do good. 89% of people surveyed by Escape the City said they wanted a career with a clear sense of purpose and in research by Regenerate, 53% were more likely to favour brands that are doing good in the world. 

At Supply Change we help organisations spend more with businesses that do good. Alongside the ethical benefits, businesses find that creating impact helps them attract and retain talent. Escape the City has attracted 500,000 people to their community by offering a path to more purposeful careers. This is the Supply Change and Escape the City guide to gifts made by mission-led businesses.

GIFTS TO UNWRAP

Birdsong - clothing for women who dress in protest

Birdsong designs clothes for remarkable women that are also made by them. They work with expert women makers who face barriers to employment and pay them London living wage. Their range of womenswear, accessories and gifts are all made to Birdsong’s extremely high standard of design, ethics and sustainability.

Circla - reusable beauty products

Circla allows you to shop ethical and sustainable beauty brands without sending bottles and jars to landfill. Each time you make a new order they will collect your previous containers to be reused and all deliveries are made by bicycles or electric vehicles.

Designs in Mind - the design studio improving mental health

Designs in Mind is a working studio, where adults living with mental health challenges work together on experimental art and design projects. They have an expansive range of bright and boldly designed products including homewares, prints, accessories and stationery.

Elvis & Kresse - luxury accessories made from reclaimed materials

In 2005 Elvis & Kresse’ founders saw an opportunity in the masses of decommissioned fire hoses going to landfill. Since then they have become a leading innovator in sustainable luxury by rescuing raw materials, transforming them into lifestyle accessories, and donating 50% of profits back to charities. 

Keep Cup - the reusable coffee cup leaders increasing their impact

The Keep Cup has become an almost ubiquitous accessory for coffee drinkers looking to reduce their waste. 10 years in and they have expanded their impact by stepping up their efforts in the areas of clean energy, climate action, gender equality, responsible production, sustainable communities and sustainable food, land, water and oceans.

Marvellous Maps - entertaining maps supporting environmental causes

Marvellous Maps’ range of thematic maps of Britain are perfect for adventurers, curious minds, road trippers, culture vultures, outdoor enthusiasts, foodies, bookworms and film fans. Every map bought raises funds for important environmental causes.

*Use code ESCAPEMATESRATES for an exclusive 25% discount on any product

Ocean Bottle - reusable water bottles and plastic waste collectors

Not only does using one of Ocean Bottle’s award-winning insulated bottles help you reduce your plastic use but every sale contributes to collecting ocean-bound waste plastic. By June this year they had helped collect 2,784,239kg of plastic.

Organic Blooms - sustainable flowers supporting people with learning difficulties

Organic Blooms is an organic cut flower farm near Bristol. They grow and sell beautiful seasonal British cut flowers sustainably and help local people with learning difficulties

Yard + Parish - lifestyle products by black-owned independent brands

Yard + Parish is a curated online shop championing natural, conscious and colourful lifestyle. Their range includes an array of independent Black-owned brands offering clean beauty, handmade jewellery, fashion accessories, homeware, and more. They source from small businesses that use natural ingredients and follow sustainable practices.

GIFTS TO EAT AND DRINK

Breadwinners - artisanal bread supporting refugees

Londoners can now order Breadwinners high quality bread and pastries to their door. Their online shop offers buns, a bread subscription, sourdough kits and gift vouchers. They provide work experience for refugees and young people seeking asylum as well as employability training, social networks and mentoring.

*Use code ESCAPETHECITY21 for an exclusive 21% discount on any order upon checkout on their online shop.

Fat Macy’s - catering and food gifts supporting people into homes

Fat Macy’s runs multiple food businesses including a restaurant and bespoke catering. They run programmes for people in temporary accommodation to give them skills and help them earn a deposit to move into a home. You can hire them for your Christmas do at work or shop their range of food and drinks gifts on their website.

Love Cocoa - climate positive chocolate

Love Cocoa’s mission is to create a fairer and more sustainable chocolate industry. They create handcrafted luxury chocolates, and chocolate boxes filled with the highest quality chocolate. They plant a tree for all chocolate sold, take great care in sourcing their product sustainably and ensure cocoa farmers are paid higher than the market price.

Maeterna - natural skin care providing employment to immigrant womxn

Maeterna’s skin care products are ethically sourced, vegan friendly, and contain nothing of animal or synthetic origin. Maeterna is a platform providing employment opportunities to London’s immigrant mothers. Their packaging is zero-waste and even contains wildflower seeds that you can plant.

Miss Macaroon - luxury macarons supporting unemployed young people

Miss Macaroon makes a wide range of luxury, hand-made French macarons. They have multiple customisable packages including gift boxes, co-branding and “showstoppers” for special events. They also reinvest 100% of profits into helping unemployed young people gain skills.

Nemi Teas - specialist teas empowering refugees

Nemi Teas is a specialist London-based tea company that offers a variety of tea blends both as loose-tea and teabags and a Chai Syrup. They also provide employment to refugees to give them local work experience and job readiness skills to enter the UK workforce and help them integrate into broader society. 

Origin Coffee - B Corp certified, Cornwall-based coffee roastery 

Origin Coffee is an independently owned specialty coffee roaster that prioritises sustainability and the people involved in producing their coffee. They are B Corp certified, a living wage employer and have won numerous awards for their high quality coffee.

Rubies in the Rubble - condiments made by ingredients that would otherwise go to waste

Rubies use ingredients that would otherwise go to waste for often superficial reasons including being the wrong shape, size or colour. Their ketchups and relishes are made with fresh fruit & veg sourced directly from farms, whilst mayos are made with aquafaba, a plant-based alternative to eggs that is usually thrown away.

Social Stories Club - sustainable and impactful gift boxes

Each of the products inside Social Stories Club’s sustainable gift boxes and hampers has been made by social ventures. The products inside range from delicious chocolate that supports global reforestation projects to Earl Grey Tea helping to educate girls in India. You can create a special gift for your work team, clients or community with their co-branded corporate gift options.

Second Shot Coffee - specialty coffee supporting people affected by homelessness

Second Shot Coffee employs and trains people who have been affected by homelessness to help them transition to long term employment elsewhere. You can buy their signature ‘From the Ground Up’ blend online or you can visit their cafe in East London. You can also ‘pay-it-forward’ to buy food and coffee for rough sleepers.

Teapigs - B Corp certified sustainable and speciality tea

Teapigs tea is sourced sustainably and delivered in packaging that’s better for the environment. They donate a portion of their sales to supporting young people in Rwanda, where most of the tea for their signature Everyday brew is sourced. They are also B Corp certified and were the first tea company to be certified Plastic-Free.

Toast Ale - beer creating systemic change to fix the food system

By using surplus bread to replace barley, Toast Ale uses less land, water and energy, and produces less carbon emissions. They create additional impact with the sale of their range of craft beers by giving all profits to charity.

Woke Babies - monthly discovery box of black children’s books

The monthly Woke Babies box includes a selection of black children’s books, perfectly tailored to your child’s age & understanding. The box includes an activity pack and books, featuring characters and trailblazers that look just like them. Woke Babies’ mission is to keep young black children “awoke” by keeping reading books alive.

GIFTS TO EXPERIENCE

Migrateful - cookery classes taught by migrant chefs

Migrateful runs cookery classes led by expert refugee and migrant chefs who are struggling to integrate and access employment, due to legal and linguistic barriers. Their mission is to empower its chefs on their journey to employment and independence. Migrateful offers a range of in-person, online, group and private classes.

Pivot - jewellery making workshops supporting people in hostels

Pivot gives people in hostels support with a 12-week programme taking them through the process of design, marketing, making and selling jewellery. The participants are also given financial support and life coaching to help build up the necessary skills to move towards independent living and employment. Alongside their range of handmade jewellery you can buy a specific workshop by their makers or a gift voucher.

Wings and Radicles - inclusive beekeeping workshops and products

When Rachel Sampara discovered a love for beekeeping she also discovered a lack of diversity in the field. Rachel set up Wings and Radicles to allow more people to get involved with beekeeping and to engage people in environmental education. Anyone can book beekeeping workshops and buy beeswax products including wax melts, lip balms and food wraps.

Canopy & Stars - Unique outdoor stays preserving the natural world

Canopy & Stars is a collection of unique, creative places to stay in the outdoors that give you a memorable experience. Their Charitable Trust supports organisations focused on the protection and preservation of the natural world and the improvement of travel's relationship with it.

Ferly - the app helping women explore sexuality

Ferly are smashing the taboo, the stigma and the shame around women’s health and female pleasure. By normalizing conversations about sex, they are empowering the 51% of women who struggle with it. Memberships include access to: feature programs, single sessions, podcasts and interviews, sensual stories, guided journaling prompts and access to the Ferly community.

Rebel Book Club - book club focused on non-fiction and positive action

Every month the Rebel Book Club community votes for a non-fiction book to read in the lead up to an online or offline meet up. To ensure inclusive selections they have created two reports, one to understand the gender, ethnicity, age, nationality & publishers behind the authors and another to understand how their choices may be susceptible to personal and structural biases. 

GIFTS OF GIVING

Do Nation - get sponsored in pledges of action

Do Nation offers something a bit different in terms of charitable action. If people are asking what you want for Christmas you can ask them to make pledges. You set up a campaign, maybe set yourself a challenge, and rather than people giving you money they make commitments that reduce their impact on the environment, like eating less meat or cycling to work for a month.

Treedom - planting trees for social and environmental benefit

With Treedom, you choose and pay for the tree you want to be planted, then they will be planted by local farmers to provide environmental and social benefits. You will receive a photo of the moment they are planted and updates about the projects where they are planted. 

Greater Change - Help individuals to overcome homelessness

Greater Change helps you donate directly to people looking for support. Their charity partners work with homeless people and refer them to Greater Change when they need a bit of a financial boost to overcome homelessness.

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Supply Change gives social enterprise suppliers more access to procurement contracts. If you are a social enterprise or co-op who sell to businesses or the public sector you can find out about how Supply Change can support you here.