February 2018 – The Chuffed Academy

February 28, 2018February 28, 2018

Bringing fair fashion to Fremantle – The Fitting Room by New Mode Collective

“Eve and Acacia met in self defence class just over 6 months ago and immediately connected over a shared interest in fair, sustainable clothing. After sharing countless cups of coffee, reading lists, impassioned discussions, wistful dreams and sweaty training sessions, they discovered that Acacia’s background in community development, and Eve’s in fashion and textiles, were just what the other needed to start stirring up the industry. New Mode Collective was born as a platform to share all they have learnt about clothing; the people who make it; and its effects on our precious Earth.

In May 2017, they created a clothing supply chain installation and facilitated a series of workshops on sustainable fashion at Moral Fairground’s Victorian Fair Trade Festival. The positive responses were overwhelming, and served to reinforce their belief that education and access to ethically produced, sustainable clothing must improve fast! Propelled by the fires in their bellies, they showcased the exhibition again in December and launched the first edition their zine, New Mode Mag.

They are now embarking on their biggest venture yet; New Mode Fashion Festival (NMFF), March 3rd – 11th, in Fremantle, WA. Thus far, their projects have focused on education and, while they recognise the importance of this, they have come to realise that a barrier for many people is lack of access rather than knowledge. Outside Australia’s major cities, sustainable clothing is available almost exclusively online, which makes curating a thoughtful wardrobe daunting for many. As part of NMFF, they’re launching The Fitting Room, a pop-up retail space where people can try on sustainable garments before buying them online. They’ll be hosting an industry conference on ethical business, a screening of the harrowing yet inspiring documentary, River Blue, and an Emerging Designer Showcase of Perth and Melbourne’s fledgling conscious designers.

Crowdfunding has proven to be a perfect way to galvanise support for these projects, and Eve and Acacia can’t thank Chuffed and their supporters enough for making it all possible!”

For more on The Fitting Room and New Mode Collective, check our their crowdfunding campaign below:

February 19, 2018

Hayes Urban Teaching Farm: An Educational Agricultural Experience

“In the spring of 2016 , I came home to New Brunswick after 2 months away, getting my hands dirty and learning about small-scale farming, homesteading, and bee keeping in New England. I was ready to find my next calling in the local food scene here at home. While continuing to work part time with a local food retailer that I loved, a long-time customer told me about their goal of starting a learn-to-farm program in the city. She invited me to join in and I began volunteering with the Hayes Urban Teaching Farm project. In February 2017 I was so lucky to start working full time on the project.

Food has a natural ability to bring us together; it is not only a necessity, but also one of the major joys of life. The positive environmental and social impacts a healthy food system can have are impressive, not to mention the health benefits and rewards that come from producing your own food. In working to create more earth-friendly farmers in an agriculturally hungry province, there will be significant rewards and a massive potential for positive change in our rural communities.

I am the outreach coordinator for the Hayes Urban Teaching Farm project, and so have the opportunity to tell our story to anyone and everyone that wants to hear it, keep momentum up, work to fit the puzzle pieces together, and collaborate with the rest of our enthusiastic team to dream this brilliant project into reality!

When the pilot program gets off the ground in less than 2 months (eep!), I will be sliding into a different role and will be taking the farmer training course. I guess that this is the year that I find out if I actually have the chops to be a farmer! It’s been a wild time helping to get the project so far in a relatively short amount of time, and things are looking gooooood! Thanks for your interest and support and keep in touch! ”

You can find out More about Claire and the work that Hayes Urban Teaching farm carry out on their campaign page:

February 15, 2018February 15, 2018

Elise’s Operation Groundswell Volunteer Trip to Thailand!

“Over the past 10 years, I have seen many pictures and heard inspiring stories from families and friends who volunteered for underprivileged communities overseas. This sparked my interest in participating in a similar program. I have always enjoyed getting involved and volunteering within my own community. I am motivated by the ability to help others and am happiest when I can spread my energy and positive spirit onto those around me. I love to keep busy and work hard on projects that lead to tangible, visible results.

In 2016, I had the privilege of travelling to Nicaragua with a good friend. We spent 10 days backpacking through various cities and towns, experiencing a new culture, hiking up volcanoes, and learning about the rich local history. This experience caused me to fall in love with backpacking, but also demonstrated that so many countries around the world could use support. We are so privileged here in Canada, that it is easy to forget about the issues occurring worldwide. Since then, I have been looking for opportunities to backpack through new locations, soaking up new experiences and cultures, while finding ways to give back to the communities I visit.

Now in my final semester of Mechanical Engineering, I have been coming up with a plan of what to do after graduation. That is when I came across the organization Operations Groundswell; a non-profit, backpacking-style, volunteer-based organization that is dedicated to taking young adults outside of their comfort zones and into the wider world to explore, learn, and give back to communities in need. And then, to make things even better, I found their program called “Farm to Table”, in Thailand. Food is another very big passion of mine. I love to try new things, experiment with new recipes, and incorporate various cultures into each dish I create. Additionally, I am very concerned for the environment, and am always careful to eat in a sustainable manner while supporting local farmers.

Farm to Table with Operations Groundswell, incorporates all of my passions and provides me with a fantastic opportunity to help others while supporting a cause I care a lot about: sustainable farming practices. While getting my hands dirty volunteering on an organic farm, I will learn first-hand about alternative modes of food production.

Volunteering my time and efforts to the foundations and farms in Thailand will provide them temporary relief and bring a new positive energy among them. However, monetary support is also important for them. I am raising money to help organizations in Thailand such as The Mirror Foundation and Pun Pun Centre for Self Reliance; continue to help sustain their local economy and live more self-reliant lifestyles.”

Check out Elise’s crowdfunding campaign page below!

February 13, 2018March 28, 2018

London’s First Crowdfunding Accelerator for Social Causes

An 8 Week Crowdfunding Bootcamp for charities, social entrepreneurs and individuals looking to raise their impact by running a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Apply Now

Are you looking to build and launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for your social cause and build a community who are emotionally and financially invested in its success?

We have partnered with the award-winning consultants at Crowdfund 360 to run a practical and highly interactive crowdfunding training program in London, for anyone interested in building and launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for their social cause and activate the benefits of this powerful marketing machine.

During the 8 Week Crowdfunding Accelerator Training, we will take you step by step through our crowdfunding success system, helping you make sense of the experience. We will help you bring your campaign to life by launching it with you at the end of the training and remaining by your side for the duration of your campaign (an additional 5 weeks tailored support).

The training will take place every Thursday morning at Impact Hub Brixton for 8 weeks, starting April 19th. Through a combination of masterclasses and one on one sessions, each week participants will receive guidance from our experts to get everything setup for their campaign.

This training includes, but is not limited to the following:

There are also two weeks reserved for peer feedback and expert 1:1 advice. By the end of this Accelerator, participants will be ready to launch their campaign on Chuffed.org. Throughout the duration of the participant’s crowdfunding campaign, the experts at Chuffed.org and Crowdfund 360 will provide ongoing tailored support.

When does the 8-Week Crowdfunding Accelerator commence?

Thursday April 19th, 9:30am – 1230pm (to continue every Thursday for 8 weeks)

When will my crowdfunding campaign go live?

Tuesday 12th June (to run for a period of 5 weeks with support from Crowdfund 360 and Chuffed.org)

What are the fees to take part?

Projects aiming to raise less than £5,000 will be charged a flat rate of £330
Projects aiming to raise between £5-10k will be charged £440
Projects aiming to raise between £10k-£20k will be charged £500
Projects aiming to raise over £20k will be charged £660
*Apply by 2nd March and receive 20% discount!
*10% discounts for SSE fellows and Impact Hub members
**Payment plans available by request – email accelerator@chuffed.org to work out a plan that will work best for you

What is the qualifying criteria to take part?

We are looking for individuals with a social cause, charities, social enterprises or startups and other organisations who want to raise over £2,000 through crowdfunding and already have a project or idea in mind. Applicants need to be aware that raising funds is a time consuming process and must be willing to put in the time and work required. Candidates need to be available to attend the session held one morning a week (Thursdays) at Impact Hub Brixton, and will have the option to hot desk in the office space there for the remainder of the day.

When is the deadline for applications?

Spaces are limited, so we recommend applying as soon as possible. Deadline for applications is midnight on 27th March.

Apply Now

Questions? Email us at accelerator@chuffed.org

February 12, 2018

Project Mitten Kitten

“Cheltenham Cat Rescue came about as a means of trying to assist in providing a solution to a growing problem – that being the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of abandoned cats and kittens across Melbourne. As the founder, I had been fostering for some groups already but thought I could make more of an impact in setting up my own rescue group. Perhaps a moment of madness? 🙂

Whilst an emotional rollercoaster to date, it is a journey I would not change for the world. In the 2.5 years we have been in operation, we have saved the lives of over 1500 cats through direct rescue from pounds and shelters through to community desexing programs. We are run entirely by volunteers who continue to inspire me everyday with how far they will go to assist cats and kittens. They are truly dedicated to the cause and we would not be where we are as a rescue community without them. The bulk of our volunteers are foster carers but we also have those who assist at stalls, events and even those who a part of our Kitty Cat Express – the CCR transport team. We are always on the lookout for people who would like to help us out in any capacity! Many paws…I mean hands, make light work.

At any one time we can have between 200 – 300 cats and kittens in care. It can feel a little overwhelming at times (especially the vet bills that can teeter between $2,000 and $10,000 a month), but the rewarding feeling of giving back to help those who really are at our mercy, is definitely what keeps us all going. And I am sure I speak on behalf of all those involved with Cheltenham Cat Rescue when I say that. We are in a unique position to work with the community and advocate for cats – their welfare and their health. And we are proud of what we have achieved and are grateful for those who also support us in what we do!

Read more about Cheltenham Cat Rescue’s inspiring work on their campaign page: https://www.facebook.com/cheltenhamcatrescue/ “

February 6, 2018

An Inclusive Children’s Story in Auslan (Australian Sign Language)

“Hi! We’re Jen and Kerrie!

We’re friends, we love books and we don’t have perfect hearing.

As mothers, and one of us a teacher, we’ve had the privilege of reading to children for a number of years. Not only is it a wonderful bonding experience, but it also creates a foundation for every child’s language development. However, as you might imagine, story time becomes a little different for families with members who are deaf, and we’d like that to change.

We were once deaf children who’ve now become parents, and we’ve always struggled to find books that recognise or engage children who use Auslan (Australian Sign Language) as their language. Based on our experiences growing up, we’ve written and are self-publishing the first of what will become (with your help!) a series of bilingual Auslan storybooks for families with deaf or hard of hearing members.

Our goal is to bridge the gap between the two languages and support the development of children’s language in the early years. It’s also a fantastic introduction to the world of Auslan for both the hearing and deaf communities, and another big step in ensuring every child sees themselves represented in the wider world.

The pages are set up with pure Auslan images on one side, terrifically drawn up by our skilled and deaf illustrator, Shaun Fahey. The opposite page will display the story illustrations, wonderfully drawn by our U.K based illustrator, Janet King, with the English sentences underneath, making it truly bilingual. All our stories will include everyday vocabulary and expressions to support the language development of young children, and display common signs used every day.

Ultimately we’d love our books to spark a sense of pride in children and parents who are deaf, engage the children in story time, and allow them to bond with their parents as they explore the stories. It will make them ask questions, make predictions and take delight in seeing their families represented in these stories.

Jump onto Chuffed today, and pre-order your copy of the first book .Thanks everyone for your support so far. We’ve reached half of our goal in just 2 days!

Visit our Facebook page for updates and further information: https://www.facebook.com/tallgiraffepublishing00/ . ”

You can also find out more about Jen and Kerrie’s amazing story on their campaign page:

February 5, 2018February 5, 2018

Coast to Coast for Clean Force

“Mark Lawson, Sam Donaldson and Myself (Leons Ansons) are all colleagues who work for Fulton Hogan and Laing O’Rourke. We are all different ages and take up vastly different roles whilst working on the North Eastern Alliances Level Crossing Removal Project. We came together with a passion for sport and exercise, playing basketball, going surfing and enjoying our time outside of work. Somehow the conversation started on competing in a sporting event in New Zealand. ‘Why not?’ we said.

Then all of a sudden we had committed, somewhat ignorantly, to competing in New Zealand’s Coast to Coast world Multi Sport Adventure Race. Where we will have two days and under 24 hours to cover 243 km of tough terrain starting on the West Coast of New Zealand at Kumara Beach, crossing the main divide and finishing on the East Coast at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch. The brutal and challenging race includes a 70km kayak, 33.7km of mountain running and 140 km of cycling.

Once the realisation of just how large this event will be dawned on us, we started to realise how inspiring our commitment and dedication to training could become. That is when the idea of fundraising alongside the event came to the forefront of our brains. Our project team is highly invested and interested in employing and incorporating social enterprises into our business one of those in particular is Clean Force, a social enterprise that provides top-notch commercial cleaning services and creates sustainable award-wage employment opportunities for people with severe mental illness. The absolute kindness and dedication of dealing with some of clean force’s owners absolutely moved us. The first thought of their organisation was a ‘no brainer.’

The problem was that, at this point, we had all never ever really ran a large fundraiser before. We didn’t really know how to get started. The first steps were to get the word out there and to develop a fundraising page. The word was easy, we had friends, family and colleagues in our respective businesses that we could look to for donations and spreading the word. Now, the page, that was not so easy. Numerous, multinational online fundraising pages taking commission after commission. I finally stumbled across Chuffed.org. Another ‘non-for-profit’ enterprise that shared similar interests. Bam, a match made in heaven.

Now, from the kindness of businesses around Australia, our friends, our family and our colleagues. Clean Force has over $8000 in donations to help provide further education, training and materials for their employees. Opportunities that will help grow the business and give more jobs to those who need it most.”

Learn more about this awesome cause in the Clean Force crowdfunding campaign page below:

February 5, 2018

No Means No – Saving Young People from Rape Culture by Victoria

“On 21^st January 2018 I returned from Kitengela, Kenya. This is a small village with slum land approximately one and a half to two hours outside the capital Nairobi. Having been an avid volunteer in Australia and just concluding my Diploma in Youth Work, I set out to visit a new nation and see where my skills could be of assistance for 6 short weeks. When I arrived, I met Giselle a long time pen pal and fellow volunteer.

After two nights in the big city we were greeted by Networks for Voluntary Services Kenya staff and we set out to Kitengela to meet my new host mum Lucy, Agnes from Gihon Womens Empowerment Centre and Erin a past volunteer with a passion for sponsorship of children and families.

The next day we returned to the centre which offers hairdressing and sewing as well as healthy living and a variety of other classes for victims of domestic violence. These classes are held in the mornings and in the afternoons there are therapy sessions for people diagnosed with HIV.

While we were there we noticed that many of the women were hesitant to tell their children that they were carriers of the AIDS virus and so it was decided that as part of the school holiday program we would include a class on Sexual Health and HIV. The aim was to create a conversation and a safe space for the girls to approach their mothers and fathers about the topic.

What happened was completely unexpected! Two of the girls came forward, one who was sick and another who was being sexually assaulted, by a family member. We were shocked and had little avenue to help the girls but we knew we had to do something.

Giselle had previously heard of No Means No (an NGO teaching young people about puberty, rape culture and HIV. They also provide assistance to victims through school based counselling in partnership with safe house programs) and she had contacted the group hoping for their advice and assistance. After visits to a number of schools, we choose Noonkopir as the pilot school. This was where our good friend and colleague Erin has been diligent in building additional classrooms and helping out in the special needs unit by changing nappies, feeding and teaching the kids.

We were very happy when Nancy the manager of No Means No agreed to help, we visited her and the team on a number of occasions to view their presentations and get an understanding about what the program involved. Nancy agreed to use international grant money to fund 50% of the Kitengela program and in addition she donated a few extra teachers.

I am happy to say that this week we received the contracts from Nancy for implementation of the program into the Pioneer School curriculum. It will involve grades 5 – 8, starting in Term 2, 2018. With a favourable outcome No Means No will use the baseline study results to gain funding to implement the program into all the schools in the Kitengela area with any additional funding potentially being used to provide safe houses in the village.”

Check out Victoria’s crowdfunding campaign below:

February 5, 2018

Advocating for Chinese Orphans with Disabilities by Katy & Dustin

“In 2012 I travelled just outside of Beijing to Shepherds Field Children’s Village (SFCV), an orphanage for about 100 kids with disabilities, for a 3 week trip with a team of therapists.

At the time, I was still in undergrad with goals to pursue occupational therapy. After connecting with the children and aiyis (nannies) at SFCV I had one of those life-changing moments that spoke to the core of who I am. This is the place where my skills and a deep need intersect. I was determined to come back in the future with a degree and some experience to provide a greater service for a longer amount of time. I worked to finish 2 degrees and obtain a couple of years of experience in paediatric occupational therapy. Along the way, I met and fell in love with Dustin, a dreamy computer nerd. Very early in our relationship, I disclosed to Dustin that I was indeed moving to China someday. He was fully supportive of my dream and continued to cheer me on through grad school.

Fast forward several years, we are married now and have both been in our fields for a couple years soaking up as much information as possible. We are partnering for a year (maybe more) with Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village. I will be providing occupational therapy and Dustin will be managing all things IT (information technology) related. We will live on site and volunteer full time to help continue the impacting work SFCV does. SFCV focuses on the medical and therapy needs of special needs orphans. The campus has a medical clinic, therapy center, school, an inn for visitors, an office, and a vocational center.

We are self-funding our travel and living expenses. All of the money we raise through our crowdfunding campaign on Chuffed will go towards buying essential therapy and IT equipment like wheelchairs, feeding chairs, sensory items, and hardware/software.”

Learn more about this inspiring cause by checking out Katy’s crowdfunding campaign page below: