For the calendar date that has become synonymous with promotional sales activity, this Black Friday, Cornish lifestyle brand Seasalt launched its Doing Good Things initiative so staff could dedicate their time and raise vital funds for organisations. community, environmental and people-centred charities across the UK. Instead of encouraging sales promotions on a particular day, Seasalt provided employees across the business with an additional day of paid leave to participate in volunteer projects, including a staff benefit event to raise money for local charities in Cornwall, to support those in need. most during the cost of living crisis. Across all of its UK stores, Seasalt used its Adyen technology platform to match all charitable donations made by customers so far to charity partner Mind on Friday 25 November.
Paul Hayes, CEO of Seasalt, said: “For us, Black Friday is about making a positive difference and using it as a time to connect with the causes our customers and employees are passionate about. It has never been part of our values as a company to encourage extra spending on one day of the year, we believe our prices reflect the care, quality and consideration that goes into each Seasalt product, throughout the seasons. As part of our ongoing sustainability journey, we want to do our part to avoid the encouragement of excessive purchasing while giving back to the environment and the communities we depend on as a company. And we recognize that these are particularly challenging times for our customers and the community as well. We’ve worked with a wide spectrum of fantastic charities this year and I’m proud to say we’ve logged an incredible 4,726 volunteer hours and raised over £12,000 for local charities and community projects on Black Friday weekend alone, along with by matching donations made by our customers to our national charity partner Mind in our store up to points on Black Friday.”
Seasalt actively supports charities that make a difference, both nationally and closer to home. To help support the vital work of Mind, we have committed to raising £100,000 per year for the charity over three years as part of our overall commitment to donate £1 million to the charity by the end of 2025.
Seasalt reached out to the local community to identify more than 42 different volunteer opportunities with nine different charities for employees to join. At Seasalt’s offices in Treleigh, teams of designers joined a sewing contest, repurposing unsold Seasalt clothing to create mastectomy pillows, pillowcases and mammography capes for patients at the Mermaid Center, a cancer center. breast in Truro. In Perranporth, Seasalt employees worked together with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust to complete a major beach cleanup. Camborne Care Home received a garden renaissance and makeover, while Cross Keys Care Home in Penryn got the benefit of a team of Seasalt designers creating a new mural for their garden, breathing new life into the space Nursing home exterior. Seasalt staff were also involved in fundraising drives for the RNLI across Cornwall. This is just a snapshot of the various charities and projects the brand will be supporting through the end of 2022.
In UK stores, Seasalt gave customers the opportunity to donate money to Mind, the UK’s leading mental health charity. At the checkouts, customers had the option of donating £1, £2 or £5 to charity with their purchase, providing a simple platform for customers to donate if they wished.
Seasalt Volunteering was created in 2018 as a way to give back to the communities where our employees live and work. Employees across the business receive an extra day of paid leave so they can roll up their sleeves and support a local charity that’s important to them. Since the volunteer program launched in 2018, Seasalt have collectively contributed thousands of volunteer hours to human, environmental, animal and community charities across the UK. The goal is to reach 20,000 hours by the end of 2025.
