Soul Craft is about giving back. Me giving back to this craft and this community who have given me so much over the years - who have literally acted as life support.
But it is also about us giving back - as a community. What we are able to do - make things - is a privilege. No matter how tiny the amount of time we have in any phase of life, or how tiny the amount of money we have for supplies, we get to engage with this thing we love because we have the time/money to do so. We are also lucky enough to have the knowledge that craft is there for us when we need it. That is our privilege.
And so Soul Craft wants to share that privilege around. To create a bit more space and time for someone who doesn't have craft in their lives as a life support.
To see our Values and our Policies then please follow the links. But for your convenience I thought I would share our Giving Back Policy here.
“We believe in giving back. We know the power craft can have in our lives, and want to share that with as many people as we are able to. As we all know, making things with our hands can dramatically affect our wellbeing and support us in our everyday.
As such 10% of all profit made by the event will be invested in projects that improve the wellbeing of women through craft. Some of this money will be given in the form of scholarships and grants to people and projects within our community. Some will be in charitable donations through things like micro-loans. We will be fully transparent on where this money has been assigned, and a page will be added to our website after the event giving details.”
What our Giving Back looks like in reality? Well, that is what I am asking you?
This is our first year of running the festival and the first time we have attempted something like this. In the past we have run scholarships to The Craft Sessions but our Giving Back policy aims to target a larger number of women.
So my questions are;
1. Do you know of a community group that needs resources or even a cash grant. It could be for materials, for hall hire, for teaching support?
2. Do you think we should keep it totally within Australia or should a proportion of what we do be spent through charities like Give Directly or Kiva loans allowing women to support themselves and their families through craft?
We will take any advice you have for us - and will share after the event what we have decided to do.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this post. Please comment here rather than on Facebook and Instagram just so we have all your comments in the one place.
Thanks as always for your support.
Felicia x
