Crowdfunder Stories | Catch the Sunrise

My name is Bertie Herrtage, I’m a coach here at Crowdfunder UK and I’m on an adventure. Since August I have been travelling across the UK, from Cornwall to Scotland, meeting with and interviewing 10 of my favourite projects. These 10 wonderful stories will form the basis of a publication which I myself am putting together, with the aim of shining a light on all of the good things that are happening and the incredible people behind them.

In 2017, Catch The Sunrise raised £3,414 from 72 supporters on Crowdfunder.co.uk

Catch the Sunrise is an independent Cornish jewellery brand with strong sustainable principles and a focus on empowering women to be adventurous, wild and free.

When I began my journey around the UK to identify businesses and charities who were tackling mental health in creative and interesting ways, Catch the Sunrise was my first stop.

My two founding principles behind this Crowdfunder Stories project, are that by making some time to do what you love and getting involved in your community we can restore wellbeing amongst ourselves and in society.

When I had to take a break from work to recover from my depression, I understood from my time off that at the root of my unhappiness was the feeling I was living and working entirely for someone else and ignoring my own personal ambitions. Our jobs take up a huge amount of energy and it’s difficult not to feel drained at the end of the day or week and therefore able to pursue some of our own interests besides entertainment.

I believe that at heart we are all creative beings, in whatever shape or form that may present itself. It’s important to nourish this creativity, I had identified my passion which was writing and I wanted to make sure that I made some time in my life to explore and develop this. Otherwise, without addressing this feeling it would have gone on unfulfilled and I would have always wondered what could have been and held it against myself.

Sami Mauger, the Founder of Catch the Sunrise also happens to be my manager at work and she is a force to be reckoned with. Sami is great at what she does and is also very good at maintaining a consistent work/life balance. This may seem like a very obvious mantra but there is certainly an art to it, not one that I previously possessed (arguably still don’t). It isn’t about only taking holidays once you’ve burnt out, it is about careful planning and preparation to make sure that you take regular breaks to look after the person you are outside of work as well as who you are at work.

Photography by Jasper Fry Photography

It has been a bit of a whirlwind watching Catch the Sunrise unfold from the sidelines. Last year Sami started using her evenings to attend jewellery making workshops while training to become a silversmith. The brand emerged from this experience and quickly Sami was trading online and through stalls at various festivals in the SW. Once she had established a small following she turned to crowdfunding to raise the capital she needed to buy new tools and materials, while using this same opportunity to market the brand and expand her customer base. As head of coaching you won’t be surprised to hear that she only needed 2 weeks to complete her campaign and exceed her target.

Photography by Jasper Fry Photography

For Sami, Catch the Sunrise enables her to explore what she loves through a creative lens. This business has enabled her to focus in on her passion for the outdoors and the way of life that she aspires to. Her brand embodies this freedom of expression and she has established a following of women who like beautiful and functional jewellery that suits a life outside, in the waves and on the mountains.

Crowdfunding gave Sami the opportunity to identify an audience for her jewellery and a great excuse to reach out to them to start a conversation.

Feeling inspired? Start crowdfunding to make your idea a reality.