Bellwoods Lifestyle Store founder Nathalie has a background in the charity sector, having worked for the Newcastle centre of Smart Works Charity, before opening the shop. It is really important to her that our retail store is used as a force for good for the environment, and in the community.
Alongside our monthly Give Back Fridays, where Bellwoods donates a portion of the days sales to a different charity or community initiative, it’s important that we choose to work with brands and makers who share our ethics.
Below are just a few of the brands at Bellwoods Lifestyle Store that use their products and platform to support causes they care about.
1. Sophie Home - Choose Love
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Sophie Home is the home of cotton knit colour, and alongside creating the softest cushions and throws for your home, and the sweetest dolls, rattles and teethers for your little ones, they also donate 5% of their annual profits to Choose Love.
Choose Love started in 2015 when a group of friends began collecting donations for refugees in Calais. What began as a simple hashtag, asking people to donate, is now a global organisation supporting refugees and displaced people all over the world.
Since 2015, Choose Love has supported over 5 million people worldwide, across more than 30 countries. They respond to emergencies providing search and rescue, emergency medical care and vital supplies and support folks with what they need to rebuild their lives, from mental health care to education.
2. Ashe London - Cianna's Smile and Bloody Good Period
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ASHE London is a female-led, luxury vegan nail colour brand who help you look good while doing good. The name itself derives from the Yoruba word ‘àṣẹ’, meaning, ‘the power to make change’. Carefully curated by a small team of nail technicians, ASHE is committed to diversity and social change, founded by Ashleigh Alli in 2021.
After leaving school at sixteen, Ashleigh worked as a nail technician to successful women who inspired her to go back to school and qualify as a lawyer at a commercial law firm. Alongside running ASHE London, Ashleigh is now a diversity consultant, working to increase inclusion and diversity within the legal profession.
10% of their profits support two worthwhile charities each year - Cianna's Smile and Bloody Good Period. Cianna’s Smile offers hope for those living with Sickle Cell Disease – the UK’s fastest growing genetic condition. The charity, established in 2012, provides education and support for those affected by the condition who feel isolated and victimised, as well as focusing on breaking the myths and stigmas attached to the disease.
Bloody Good Period was started by Gabby Edlin, who decided something needed to be done to create a sustainable flow of menstrual products for those who can’t afford to buy them. What started as a whip-round on Facebook is now a growing charity, with a vision to achieve menstrual equity - where the simple fact of bleeding doesn’t stop anyone from participating fully in society, or life. Bloody Good Period are now partnered with 40 asylum seeker drop-in centres around the country, helping more women and people who menstruate have bloody good periods.
3. Black + Blum - 1% for the Planet
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Black+Blum is a UK-based eco-design company, specialising in high-quality food containers, drink ware and accessories. Each product is designed in London, where every detail is carefully considered for repeated lifelong use, and every material sourced to the highest standard for durability.
Black+Blum are a 1% for the Planet member, and each time you invest in a Black+Blum product they donate at least 1% of your order value to charities that help fight food waste by rescuing good food that would otherwise go to landfills. Each order donates at least one meal through City Harvest London, who work with food companies at all levels of the supply chain across the UK to collect food that would otherwise go to landfill.This helps to feed those in need and also to reduce greenhouse gases that would otherwise be created by waste food products. Black+Blum have delivered 128,740 meals to those in need and rescued 56,000kg of surplus food.
4. Aya&Ida - UNICEF
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Danish brand Aya&Ida create water bottles that are made to last a lifetime. As well as reducing plastic waste, AYA&IDA is proud to be a UNICEF Partner and part of the important work of bringing clean water, sanitation and hygiene to children in need.
For every drinking bottle sold, the AYA&IDA Foundation donates 100 litres of clean water to children in need. Together with customers and retailers, they have so far donated 64,075,000 litres of water through UNICEF. UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. And they never give up.
As well as the four brands we've detailed above, we also partner with many other makers and brands who support various organisations, such as Arctic Fox & Co who support the Big Blue Ocean Clean Up, and Wylder Naturals who work with Wilderkind,
and This is something we look for when choosing products for the store. When you buy from us, you are directly supporting initiatives around the world.