Support Social Enterprises Through Coronavirus

We are a group of 5 social enterprises tackling some of the UK's toughest social issues, from healthcare to homelessness, from asylum to unemployment, from elderly care to ethical fashion. We provide grassroots support to those who need it most – but now we need your help.

Covid-19 has affected all of our lives but particularly those in our society who are most vulnerable to isolation and inequality. This crisis has paralysed many social enterprises from supporting people that need help most right now.

Your donations will enable us to carry on helping the most vulnerable in our society.

Where your money will go

By pledging to this Crowdfunder, you will be supporting five female-founded social enterprises: Routes, Birdsong, Lemonade, Pivot and Supply Change. Read on to find out more about the work we do. 

Routes- Featured in the Big Issue’s Top 100 Changemakers, Routes run 1:1 mentoring programmes and confidence-building theatre workshops to support women through the UK's hostile asylum system.

Refugee and asylum-seeking women are some of the most at risk of becoming isolating during this period. Your funding will go towards helping Routes to pivot their service to deliver support to these women online and provide them with laptops to stay connected. 

Birdsong- Featured in Vogue, The Guardian and the BBC, Birdsong is an ethical fashion brand selling clothes handcrafted by women’s groups, from elderly knitters to migrant seamstresses, with a ‘no sweatshops, no photoshop’ ethos. 

Due to the lockdown and social distancing measures, Birdsong have closed their warehouse and workshop for the time being. Your funding will go towards ensuring that they can continue to support their makers during this time. 

“In a world of performative activism, Birdsong is one of the few brands delivering on it’s promises.”- Refinery 29 

Pivot- A jewellery brand hand-made in hostels, creating meaningful employment to those experiencing homelessness. 

Pivot have had to cancel their pop-up jewellery shops since the crisis hit resulting in a loss of planned income. However they are determined to keeping making with their makers, many of whom will find the lockdown extremely difficult, and are still selling their jewellery online. Your funding will help Pivot to continue its work in hostels and support their makers from afar.  

Supply Change- Featured in The Times and shortlisted in Natwest’s Top 100 Social Enterprises 2019, Supply Change is a platform that connects social enterprises to public and private sector contracts, helping organisations to have maximum impact in local communities. 

Supply Change is continuing to support social enterprises during this time by creating an open source version of their online platform to connect social enterprises still delivering services with organisations with immediate sourcing needs and resources to offer. Your funding will support Supply Change to offer this service for free. 

Lemonade- A social enterprise supporting young people on waiting lists for mental health services. Lemonade bridges the gap between the community and the clinical world. 

With schools closing, Lemonade have been unable to continue with their face to face programmes however they have quickly pivoted to an online delivery model using video calls with young people. Your funding will help Lemonade deliver this service and pay for online teaching materials and facilitation support. 

About Year Here

These ventures were founded by fellows of the Year Here programme. Year Here is a postgraduate course in social innovation based in London.The course is a platform for entrepreneurial people to build smart solutions to entrenched social problems.

Year Here ventures have been backed by Nesta, WeWork, Bethnal Green Ventures and The Mayor of London – plus they’ve been featured in The Financial Times, The Guardian, VICE, The Evening Standard and many more.

Collectively, they have generated over £3,000,000 revenue and reached over 15,000 beneficiaries – from gang members and homeless teens to isolated older people and refugee women.

About the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action

Year Here is raising money for these social enterprises by partnering with the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action (CIVA). CIVA is an Innovations Centre founded in 1995 to develop, pilot and fund new ideas for addressing social problems. Partnering with CIVA allows us to claim Gift Aid on any eligible donations you make. 

Thank you for your generosity.