Home content

Refuge Hot Chocolate has been up and running since 2017 led by Chief Potion Maker Tara Mullan. 'Not being a tea or coffee drinker I spent many years sampling the hot chocolate drinks throughout Ireland and beyond, never quite getting one that hit the taste buds of how I thought a hot chocolate should taste. Until a few years ago I went skiing in Andora and tasted something that hit the spot. It was strong, thick and had so much taste. More like melted chocolate than the expensive dish water I was often served in cafes. This awakening must have been filed away in the depths of my brain and came to the fore when I was trying to come up with a solution to financially support a local anti human trafficking charity I volunteer for. I briefly tested several ideas of projects to raise finance for the charity. Until one day the name Refuge and hot chocolate literally dropped into my head. This is when I started experimenting with recipes I read about and ones I made up. Once I got closer to what I thought was a good tasting drink I asked friends to test some and give me feedback. After this I had the recipe for the original chocolate. It's still the same recipe we use today.' Refuge Hot Chocolate have several products including liquid chocolate that can be enjoyed hot or cold, thick chocolate milkshake, solid hot chocolate Melts and a new hot chocolate Blend (finely ground chocolate and other magical things). Their products are fair trade and as waste free as possible, nut free, egg free and gluten free.

Page & Bloom are reinventing floristry with paper flowers, transformed from preloved books, maps and paper. Each of their flowers is individually hand made, transforming paper into stunning floral designs.

​Page & Bloom also has a social purpose. They are are a social enterprise created to provide fair employment and opportunities for women who have experienced domestic abuse. They work in partnership with domestic abuse charities, who refer women to us once they have moved on from a women's refuge. They provide free training to our makers, who are then paid to make the beautiful decorations we sell.

​Their handmade, sustainable decorations start out as paper that has come to the end of its original life. Rather than ending up in landfill or in a dusty attic, they give paper a new life as something beautiful. Their skilled designers and makers transform these raw materials into flowers. The magic happens with little more than scissors, glue, wire and a little bit of love and imagination.

Designed for sustainable change and social impact, creating responsible and thoughtful products by transforming discarded magazines into original accessories and interiors. Based in Swaziland, all their products are hand made by local women, empowering them through skill sharing and a living wage.

They believe that craftsmanship and ethical production could prove to be a vital economic sector for Africa. Quazi want to change the perception of recycled materials by developing innovative techniques combined with locally sourced environmentally friendly or recycled materials.

A founding member of SWIFT, Swaziland fair trade, we are an active advocate for fair trade principles. Quazi Design was started in 2009 in order to create much needed employment in Swaziland, Southern Africa.

They started with the concept of a simple rolled paper bead earring displayed on a card, employing one artisan, believing in the potential to have a positive impact.

It is a partnership between Doron, who is the creative and managing director, the force behind the business, and the local magazine distributors. The Quazi workshop is situated in Sidwashini, in the industrial area of Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland. Their woman artisans are employed full time with permanent contracts, giving them job security and a living wage. Most of their artisans were previously unemployed, and on average each has 7 dependents.

Pivot is on a mission to beautiful jewellery with a difference.

They believe everyone should be given the opportunity to pivot.

Pivot helps those experiencing homeless the opportunity to get out of temporary accommodation through making and enterprise.

They create British handmade goods with a difference. Pivot are a social enterprise which aims to alleviate long-term tenures in temporary accommodation by bringing enterprise and opportunity into hostels. They provide part-time, flexible and meaningful employment for those experiencing homelessness whilst co-designing tailored strategies to help individuals get back into work and into permanent accommodation. Every piece of jewellery bought takes their makers one step closer to their goal of leaving the hostel.

Jedz is on a mission to reduce single use plastic and move toward reusable products. They firmly believe that change happens through individual decisions. A practical bottle that keeps your water cold for up to 24 hours (and hot for 12), and be playing a key role with projects that make our world better. For every bottle they ship, they donate £1 to safe water initiatives, and with your Jedz bottle in tow, you can finally quit single-use plastic for good.

Been London turn materials that would otherwise end up in land-fill into gorgeous things that you’ll want to use every day. Everything you see from their range has been something else in a previous life and is made by hand in their studio in London.

Their firm belief is that ethical products can look beautiful without costing the earth. This is why they search the world for the newest circular technologies and most sustainable solutions. 

They are a passionate bunch and want those landfill-bound materials to stick around so that you could hear their amazing stories.  

Goldfinger Factory is an award-winning design, build and teaching platform centred around up-cycling to create bespoke furniture and interiors. 

DESIGN | FURNITURE | COMMUNITY

They transform people, places and planet through beautiful design and sustainable production.

AWARD-WINNING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Goldfinger Factory is an award-winning sustainable design social enterprise founded by Oliver Waddington-Ball and Marie Cudennec in 2013. Goldfinger Factory combines a bespoke furniture and interiors business with a Teaching Academy for less advantaged young people, where they share their skills in traditional craftsmanship and reclaimed materials. Everything they do is guided by our passion for circular economy principles and an inclusive community.

Madlug was founded in 2015 by Dave Linton. A man whose only experience in the luggage industry was bags of enthusiasm. This 40-something Youth Worker was heartbroken to learn that most children in care transport their worldly belongings in a bin bag. In that moment, Dave set out to do something about it. With just £480, he started Madlug and came up with a ‘Buy one Give one’ approach: for every bag you purchase, one will be given to a child in care.

There are over 90,000 children in care in the UK and Ireland. One child enters the UK care system every 15 minutes. What’s more, over half are victims of neglect or abuse. Because children in care aren’t given a voice, the public don’t know about the problems they face every day. Which is why it’s so important that their story is heard.

Nature gives us lots of wonderful ingredients that make our skin healthier and more radiant – like used coffee grounds and brewed chai tea spices. But they often end up going to landfill.

Why should all that good stuff go to waste?

It shouldn’t. That’s why, at UpCircle, they elevate leftover natural ingredients, bringing them back to life as beauty products your skin will love.

And as well as being 100% natural, their skincare range is also 100% brilliant. Because you shouldn’t have to choose between doing the right thing and getting the best results. With UpCircle, you get to enjoy the uplifting benefits of nature’s own skin rejuvenators – and do the planet some good, too.

That’s all-round better skincare.