A brief history
It was during a visit to South Africa by Adrian Willard in 1995 that the Jubilee vision was conceived. Adrian returned from this beautiful but troubled land with two seeds of thought. Firstly, the poverty and unemployment that saddened him. Secondly, his visit to an inspiring but struggling training project that had formed a lasting impression. Although the project had vision and potential, it lacked sufficient sales to continue and soon closed.
Back in the UK, and on a Tour of The Body Shop, Adrian’s South African memories were brought to life by Anita Roddick’s philosophy. The Body Shop had proved that production in the third world could be linked to an appropriate UK market. Businesses based on values that improved the lives of the employees could surely be expanded beyond cosmetics?
Adrian returned to South Africa and spent time at a multi-project development initiative in Pietermaritzberg. This further fuelled his enthusiasm to impact communities and make a difference. During this trip he also learned more about the reasons why many projects were not fulfilling their potential, and the conclusion made was that most projects lacked business experience and knowledge. With this understanding, it was clear that with the appropriate training and help, successful businesses and projects could be established to provide skills and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged around the world.
In South Africa, contact had been made with Dave Milligan, who had started a business in which women from the townships in Cape Town received training to make jewellery. Later that year jewellery was brought to the UK, and within two weeks the sales of jewellery had raised 15% of the projects normal annual turnover.
On the back of this success, work began towards establishing ‘Jubilee’ as a trusted brand in the UK, with the aim of providing sales and marketing opportunities for products made in the developing world. In the year 2000 the opportunity arose to develop a new range of Christmas and Easter greetings cards. Products from the developing world were combined with cards designed in the UK, forming a unique and innovative range of products.
Following the success of this range of cards and gifts, Jubilee International was formed, selling products to shops and direct to the public via the online shop, and this continues today. Profits from Jubilee International are used by The Jubilee Foundation to help other supported projects.
|
|
