Our favourite kind of gifts are personal. The kind where you have to know what makes someone tick to get it spot on.
The cream of the crop of these favourite gifts, we think, are “good gifts” – those that give back a little to the world, or are educational.
All issues of sustainability, zero waste and not buying what you don’t really need aside, we do love a good, well thought out gift.
Like these ones.
Fine Cell Work is a charity that teaches needlework to prisoners and sells their products. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells, and the earnings give them hope, skills and independence. Shop here.
Fine Cell Work Black Organic Cotton Apron £29
Juta Shoes are handmade in London from environmentally-friendly jute soles and reclaimed leather. Their styles are unisex, and their shoes are beautiful, comfortable and robust.
All of their profits go towards providing sustainable and supported employment and opportunities for the women that they work with. Shop here.
Juta shoes also have several holiday workshops on during the holiday season. Design and craft your own bespoke shoes, but this time with jolly hot drinks, special snacks, and a little extra sparkle. What’s not to love?
Juta Shoes Red Leather Shoes. £70
Ranging in price from £7 – £47, The Soap Co.’s new eco product range is vegan and biodegradable with added vitamins, antioxidants and bee-friendly botanicals. Each bottle sold helps 10 -20 bees and 93% of the ingredients are sourced from British companies.
All products from The Soap Co. are handcrafted in the UK by their staff of which 80% are blind, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged and all profits are put back into the company to benefit those who work there. Shop here.
The Soap Co Wild Nettle & Sage Body Gift Trio (incl. pebble), £39
Good Joe care about where and how things are made, about what their customers get for their hard earned cash, about working fairly with suppliers, and about how they can help the less fortunate.
They support British manufacturing and avoid the types of labour exploitation associated with some offshore production. When you buy a Good Joe, they donate a new item of clothing to someone in need. Shop here.
Good Joe shirts, £30 – £45
Source Climate Change Coffee make organic single origin coffees from cloud forest communities. This is the first coffee of its kind to mitigate the climate change impact of the product by using carbon credits from the coffee farmers themselves.
It’s also the first coffee in the UK with its own carbon credit number, which, when entered into Google, takes the customer straight to the reforestation project, providing 100 per cent traceability to origin. Shop here.
Source Climate Change Coffee, £10.95
If you’d like a monthly coffee subscription, take a look here.
Rough Stuff work closely with the Mount Prison in Hertfordshire who make all their boards. Around 20 men are employed in the workshop and trained in new skills for woodwork and the self discipline of having a job to manage. Shop here.
Rough Stuff Parole Board, £38
The purpose of Monkton Wyld Court is to provide education around sustainability. Different kids groups each week use the grounds, make bread and work closely with nature.
They have a calendar of courses and events – with LandBase courses more specifically for professional growers and land workers.
A holiday here can be an education: seeing the variety of energy aware initiatives around the site and how a voluntary community live together and keep the whole place going. See courses here.
Monkton Wyld courses, various prices
The Clink Restaurants are staffed by prisoners in training on the award-winning Clink training scheme. The trainees work up to 40 hours a week learning essential skills to gain their NVQ in Professional Cookery or Food & Beverage Service.
The Clink’s programme works through the gate and beyond so that each trainee has the support they need to start over post-release, with Clink graduates being 41% less likely to reoffend. See their restaurants here.
The Clink Restaurants, Dessert
Eco action games re-create existing, traditional, social games to give them environmental messages that are learnt through playing the games.
Take a look at the eco versions of top trumps, twister, snakes & ladders, bingo and play your cards right. Themes available: energy saving, home eco actions, water saving, waste & recycling, food waste actions and more. Shop here.
Eco Action Games Toppers game, £ 4.95
Got any favourite ones of your own? Any recommendations? We’d love to hear yours!
