To perhaps be able to make a difference and to have the chance of working alongside inspirational people was my main reason to jump on this new concept; which is largely about what social media can achieve when we turn our attention towards giving back, to charity.
Jay & Co is an amazing charity concept in London, offering a variety of on or off site training programmes to hard to reach groups in the community, with a specific expertise in the area of working with young people, who are disadvantaged, disengaged and disruptive.
Jay Blades is the driving force behind Jay & Co. He formally ran the charity ‘Out of the Dark’ for 15 years before turning his attention to the new social enterprise Jay & Co to help even more. Not only does Jay & Co amazing work where they are based, in Wolverhampton, which has the second highest unemployment rate in the country.
To have a wider reach and to do more, Jay & Co has specialised in supporting and help setting up a variety of charities around London and in the UK, by creating a bespoke programme that will excite, energise and empower young people to take positive action in their lives.
And the concept has proven to be popular, not only by the young people who is changing their life around thanks to the work programme. The press loves it too and Jay & Co has been featured on prime time TV on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in addition to newspapers, glossy magazines and blogs.
So when Jay emailed to ask if I could ask for a favour, I replied yes before knowing what he wanted to ask for. And so it turns out I’ll be a furniture designer! We are honoured to be included in a line up of media personalities to take part in a fun and meaningful project.
Each month a person or/ group will be given a stool to redesign, which will then be up for sale/auction and all the profits going to their chosen charity.
This is such a great opportunity in so many ways;
– To support a charity
– To own a beautiful bespoke item
– To take part and make a difference helping others and in turn experience the feel good factor.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
And with this in mind, of course I said ‘yes!’.
To see who’s onboard and to find out more, visit jayand.co/blog.
I’m not sure yet what month will be ‘mine’. But I will most definitely start thinking of which charity to support and is the most important to me. If you have any suggestions, please share by commenting below.