Fashion Industry Challenges Poverty
Published: 03 December, 2010
Leading aid and development agency CARE International is urging teams from across the fashion and retail industry to challenge themselves and challenge poverty, in the Prima Solutions Adventure Challenge supported by Footwear Today on 21st May 2011. Taking place in scenic Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, the challenge combines outdoor activities in a day of exhilarating fun. The day includes a fast-paced canoe relay, a demanding mountain biking course and a trail challenge on foot through the forest… all in the target time of ten hours.
Afterwards, celebrations and awards will take place at a well-earned dinner and reception where teams can expend any remaining energy on the dance floor.
The most important aspect of the challenge is to raise £2500 per team to support the essential work of leading overseas development agency CARE International.
CARE works in over 70 countries helping 59 million of the world’s poorest people find a route out of poverty. CARE’s long-term programmes tackle the deep-seated causes of poverty and they are always among the first to respond with emergency relief when disaster strikes.
Where your money might be going
The Prima Solutions Adventure Challenge will raise unrestricted funds, meaning the money can be used by CARE wherever the need is greatest. The event is sponsored by Prima Solutions, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of complete multi-channel IT solutions to the clothing, footwear and accessories markets- so every penny raised will go to CARE.
A current example of CARE’s work is the charity’s ‘Living Blue’ project in northwest Bangladesh. This project teaches people in the region the ancient skill of extracting the indigotin compound found in native Indigofera plants, producing natural indigo. This dye is then used to produce high-quality cloth of vivid blue.
The project employs over 1200 people in the process of growing, extracting, dying and trading, creating a foundation for small enterprises, textile-manufacturing and regional economic development. Whole communities benefit, as profits are ploughed into savings, insurance, medical expenses, employment creation and home repairs- ultimately lifting people from the cycle of poverty.
Indigo producer Bhula Mia, aged 65, says ““I am proud that this is probably the only company in Bangladesh where profit is returned to, and shared amongst, the workers. We are unique because we own a part of this organisation. Fifty per cent of our profits are re-invested into the community, twenty five per cent goes direct to the worker and the other twenty five goes to reinvest in the enterprise. We run a social surplus scheme, where the Directors, together with community leaders, choose the most urgent social welfare projects to support. Recently, when one of our indigo workers was hit by a motorcycle, his hospital and medicine costs could be covered by the scheme.”
Say Challenge Event Manager Neil Munro, “Not only is the Prima Solutions Adventure Challenge a fantastic teambuilding and networking opportunity for everyone in the fashion industry, it’s also a fun and effective way for people to support their counterparts in poor communities around the world.”
Challenge yourself and challenge poverty. Visit www.carechallenge.org.uk/primasolutions or call 020 79
