Our Annual Donation to the Fire Fighters Charity

There are a lot of quotes about giving... 

'It is better to give than to receive' springs to mind, and this one is definitely true but perhaps our favourite is from John Bunyan:

This one is special to us - over the years we have had many people question our donations, most prominently the Financial Times, who thought it was imprudent to donate 50%. How could a business make this kind of commitment and thrive? What about the shareholders? What about growth?

Well, here we are, almost 19 years later and it seems that we were right. What is really ludicrous is the idea that a solely profit motivated business is in any way laudable or aspirational. 

Why do we give?

1. When we first found the hose and took it home we promised that we would share half of our profits with the fire service community. It was a snap decision, and certainly one of our best. The hose comes to us from an heroic community that we instinctively knew we needed to honour and include in our project.
2. Sharing is genuinely important, why else would society spend so much time teaching children to share? Here are a few reasons why sharing is just so key:

   1. It creates and maintains human connection, and enhances individual and community wellbeing. 

   2. It educates all of us, with crucial skills around compromise, fairness, empathy, gratitude and understanding each other. 

   3. If we don’t share knowledge, how would we learn? How would we have any collective understanding? How would we create communities?

   4. It makes us happier - sharing can release oxytocin, which reduces stress and makes us feel good.

   5. It might also help us live longer… strong social connections, which is built through the sharing of resources (food, skills) and time (good times, and bad times), are linked to longevity.

3. The donation has also allowed us to open up in more helpful ways, both the Fire Fighters Charity and the London Fire Brigade have access to our books. This openness was also instinctive, but it has made us one of the most radically transparent luxury brands, and given us a unique platform to communicate the inherent value of transparency. 
4. Giving isn't madness... it is at the heart of our success. It fills our rescued pieces with a deeper meaning, it makes them the gifts that keep on giving. 
5. We want to help deliver a truly circular economy. In a completely circular economy all material goods are used in perpetuity, they are either in use, or being reused, recycled, or composted... there is no waste. Everything is also powered by renewable energy. But we think capital needs to be circular too - it can't be linear, and concentrate... it needs to flow. Giving back is how we demonstrate how important it is for capital to flow.

Anyway... musings about the failure of capitalism aside, today is the day we make our annual donation to the Fire Fighters Charity. We have donated £44,698.33 this year to the FFC and that brings our total donations to date to £428,908.93. We have a wonderful long-term partnership with the FFC, and couldn't be more proud of how closely we work, and how much fun we have had rescuing and transforming hoses and raising funds. 

Here is a lovely letter from the CEO of the Fire Fighters Charity, Dr. Jill Tolfrey:

We are still open because of these donations, this commitment to generosity has made the story of Elvis & Kresse worth telling and sharing which is why we continue to find happy new custodians for our bags and belts and wallets. 

If you would like to learn more about what this donation does, we can share that it covers a huge range of both mental and physical health support; everything from group therapy sessions, to a 24 hour support hotline, emergency care packages, and residential physical therapy. If you would like to have your spirits lifted, please read through some of the beneficiary stories from the Fire Fighters Charity. 

We hope you all enjoy this season of giving, and thank you again for all your support.

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