FAIRFAX AND FAVOR’S YEAR OF KINDNESS
We are so proud. From the bottom of our Regina-clad toes to the brim of our signature pink caps, our team is positively filled with pride and happiness.
Did you know that over the course of 2020 – which, quite clearly, has been one of the worst years in recent history in so many ways – the Fairfax and Favor community has raised over £268,000 for various charities? In the midst of the chaos and stress of a pandemic, you all came together in support of initiatives that matter. We actually raised far more this year than we ever have before! How much more, you ask…
In 2019 we raised £24,738 for our Breast Cancer Now Campaign
In 2020 we raised a total of £268,000 for our NHS Covid-19 Urgent Appeal Fund, Breast Cancer Now, and Remembrance Day Poppy Tassels Campaigns.
According to our co-founder Felix Favor Parker,
‘For Marcus and for me, the amount raised for charity this year is the biggest achievement in Fairfax and Favor history. We have worked hard to build ourselves into a British fashion brand that customers can trust and relate to, and from the beginning we have felt so supported by our community. We have always been passionate about giving back in a real way, and this year our team and customers came together to make a difference when it was truly needed. We are so proud!’
And this is why, despite the many other headlining moments this year, we have decided to call 2020:
‘THE YEAR OF KINDNESS’
Examples of love and kindness from around the world aren’t hard to find. There are the famous stories like Captain Tom Moore whose 100th birthday made worldwide news when he raised a staggering £30 Million for the NHS. And then there are the millions of unknown heroes: strangers ensuring that their elderly neighbours have groceries, teachers going above and beyond to keep England’s children learning online, NHS nurses and doctors and surgeons risking their own health in order to save lives every day.
At Fairfax and Favor, our most effective tools for spreading kindness come in the glamorous forms of tassels, boots and hats… and it works! But it only works thanks to your support.
It was YOU who supported our causes by wearing these pieces throughout the year. You went above and beyond by ordering our charity support pieces, by slipping on your Regina boots with pink or blue tassels for your vital shopping trips.
You, who… showed off your Fairfax and Favor items to dogs, horses, sheep, cows, and even random unsuspecting wildlife when the rules said you couldn’t go and show them off to friends and family…?
And you were already looking after your families and loved ones, going into the world to do the vital work, working from your sitting rooms, waiting out your furlough, wearing masks, cancelling plans with friends in order to break the curve, thinking about other people in a million little ways even if it affected your own day to day life experience.
You are each the reason that this year was a year of kindness.
SO WHAT DOES A YEAR OF KINDNESS LOOK LIKE?
Fairfax and Favor started 2020 off with such big plans! We were getting ready to launch our Spring/Summer 2020 collection, and our show calendar was full. However, by March 2020 the UK government had started to realise the devastating impact that the Covid pandemic was going to have on the world, as well as to see the immediate effect in our own country and hospitals. There were more important things to think about than our cancelled shows.
APRIL AND MAY 2020
Fairfax and Favor launch the limited edition Blue NHS tassels and cap and all online profits in April go towards the NHS
By April the NHS was under real pressure. The Fairfax and Favor team were frantically working on launching a limited edition Blue NHS Tassel so that 100% of the profits could go to the NHS. But in the meantime, our healthcare workers needed support.
So Fairfax and Favor committed to donating 10% of ALL April online sales to the NHS Covid-19 Urgent Appeal Fund. If you bought boots, bags, belts, hats, tassels, or literally anything at all from our website in April 2020, 10% of your money went straight to supporting the NHS.
The NHS Covid-19 Urgent Appeal Fund was specifically designed to fundraise grants that provide blanket support to NHS staff, volunteers, and patients, and to target the small but vital costs that make a world of difference. Everything from covering travel and accommodation expenses to creating rest and recuperation rooms and even to resourcing long-term mental health support for staff and families involved.
Meanwhile (finally) our NHS tassels and caps were gorgeous and ready to launch. And we had the support of a number of truly wonderful people, some of whom you might even recognise.
These cheerful little blue accessories could hardly be packaged fast enough, and what we particularly loved was the immense number of people who used their special NHS staff only early access. The NHS almost bought out our first batch! We had been given the seal of approval by our health workers, and we knew we couldn’t let them down.
By the first of May our fundraising had made a real impact. Our team was proudly able to hand over this immense cheque to the NHS Charities Together:
Ellie Orton, Chief Executive Officer of the NHS Charities Together, said:
“Thank you, Fairfax & Favor, for your support of our COVID-19 Urgent Appeal. Donations mean NHS Charities are able to support staff, volunteers and patients, as they combat the virus… In the longer-term donations will also fund programmes to help staff and families recover fully, reducing the long-term impact on them and the people they care about.”
And we were far from done! Our NHS Limited Edition Blue Tassels were (and are) selling online, with 100% of the profits going to the NHS Charities Together.
With your help, we donated that original £61,123.97 and by now have raised it to… (drum roll please) …
OCTOBER 2020
The power of pink tassels for Breast Cancer Now
Whilst our NHS charity fundraising was going strong, the Fairfax and Favor team knew that it was especially important not to forget about the charities we have supported before. This is our 5th year supporting Breast Cancer Now, and they needed our help now more than ever. So we decided to bring out the big guns: a lot more pink!
Not only did we recreate the ever popular pink tassel (in a different shade of course, for our savvy collectors) but we also introduced the sassy pink Regina boots and a new signature pink cap.
Check out our blog here if you want to know why the fight against Breast Cancer is so close to our hearts. But meanwhile, congratulate yourselves on the fact that this year, of all years, together we raised more for Breast Cancer Now than we have done in the last five years combined!
From 2016 to 2019 we raised £95,825
In 2020, we raised…
NOVEMBER 2020
Poppy tassels for our British Heroes
We have raised money for Help for Heroes before, but it was actually our customers who gave us the idea that would take our fundraising to the next level. Last year we launched the Chelsea flower tassels, and whilst we were flooded with feedback about how gorgeous they were, we also received a number of helpful hints that they could look rather a lot like the iconic Remembrance Day poppy, if only we would change the hardware to black…
So this year, we launched our brand new, customer inspired Remembrance Day Poppy Tassels, with 100% of the profits going to charity.
And this is how much of a difference it made to our fundraising:
In 2019 we raised £560
In 2020, we raised…
This is why we adore feedback from our customers. You always have the best ideas.
DECEMBER 2020
Planning for a year of joy
This year has been tough, there is no doubt about it. However, we are incredibly grateful to have been able to play a small part in what is clearly a country-wide phenomenon of kindness, love and empathy.
We’re hoping that next year is going to be a happier one, with far fewer challenges and far more reasons to celebrate. But no matter what happens, we at Fairfax and Favor are planning on keeping the momentum going and giving more and more support each year to the charities and people who need us.
Knowing you, you’ll be the reason we manage to do it.
Merry Christmas, and here’s to next year being a year of joy.
Fairfax & Favor Team x
There’s still time to donate to our fundraising initiatives! Just click on the links within this blog to go to our Just Giving page for the charity you are interested in supporting.
