Since Maria birthed the idea for the project in 2016, we’ve learnt so much about the mechanics of running a charity: fundraising, community building, financial reporting, payroll and pensions, relationships with partners overseas, remote training - the list goes on! At times it hasn’t been easy: we’ve navigated everything from complications with overseas postage, to challenging relationships with partners, and alongside everyone else, figuring out how to keep working through the pandemic.
In the past 12 months alone, we’ve grown from supporting 12 trainees in 3 dressmaking hubs, to supporting over 90 people across 9 hubs, 5 countries and 2 continents. And we’ve achieved our long-held ambition of starting a hub local to us in Oxfordshire, where we’re supporting asylum seeking women to find community and purpose as they wait for a decision on their application to stay in the UK.
Now we’re ready to grow some more, building more communities that support dressmakers and set an example to the broken fashion industry....but we’re missing one crucial piece of the puzzle: regular financial support.
Up till now, we’ve had 3 main income streams:
~ Dress sales and sponsorships. Each time we sell a dress, a small proportion goes back into the charity to fund new initiatives
~ Donation drives for specific projects - for instance, each time we open a new hub.
~ Grant funding. We’ve received generous support through the years from Souters Trust, the National Lottery and other funding bodies.
These funding sources have allowed us to grow to this point and to employ Maria to run the charity for 1.5 days per week. If you’ve ever donated, bought a dress from us, or supported us in prayer, you’ve been part of bringing us this far - thank you! As we seek to grow, we’re recognising a need to build stability through regular funding, too.
In order to build sustainably, we need consistent, regular funding to meet our core costs and to commit to more projects:
staff time to train and support volunteer hub leaders
marketing to reach new customers so that more people can buy a dress and be part of transforming the fashion industry for the better, and to build an independent earned income stream for the charity.
Alongside this, to grow responsibly we need to build a rainy day fund. We’re required to do this so we’re always in a position to cover our financial commitments, even if our income fluctuates.
Without these, we’re not able to provide the background support that makes these hubs possible - even if they aren’t as exciting as a new project in a refugee camp!
One option is to make a regular donation:
We will use these funds to increase our staff time, connect with more supporters and start a further 3 hubs next year. We're eager to raise £900/month in regular donations. That’s the equivalent of 36 people giving £25 a month, OR 48 people giving £15 a month, with GiftAid added. No gift is too small, £5 a month would help us reach our target.
Another option is to make a single donation:
We will use these funds to build our rainy day fund, we need £1,800 (equivalent of a bible month's Living Salary). This could look like 60 smaller gifts of £20 each and 2 larger gifts of £300 each, OR 45 gifts of £20 +GiftAid, and 2 larger gifts of £225 +GiftAid.
Yes, you read that right. Only 36 people giving £25 per month could cover our existing core costs, AND create the extra capacity to support an additional 3 hubs.
Could you be one of those people, partnering with us as we continue to build intentional communities that equip dressmakers to rise out of financial hardship?
With your support, we can model a different way to dress - one that honours and values the people who make our clothes.
Every blessing,
Melissa Russon, Chair of Trustees
Kojo Amoasi, Treasurer
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