FROM 7TH -11TH JUNE, 150 employees from Kurt Geiger’s head office and retail teams attended KIDS’ adventure playground in Hackney in a volunteering project to renovate the site.
The volunteering week and recent partnership with KIDS is closely aligned with Kurt Geiger’s ‘Be Kind’ message which has remained an important mantra for the brand, particularly over the past year.
Kurt Geiger has regularly expressed a strong intention to spread kindness around the world as part of a global kindness ambition. As the brand continues to expand its international reach, it has laid out aspirations to effectuate many similar kindness-driven projects worldwide, including helping to renovate more playgrounds in other countries and providing disadvantaged children with safe and stimulating areas to play and develop.
Renovating the playground in Hackney – an area close to Kurt Geiger’s London headquarters – is the first of many kindness-related projects as part of the brand’s global mission. It has been an opportunity for Kurt Geiger to first and foremost extend its ‘Be Kind’ mantra to a local London community, as well as helping support an incredible local charity which brings hope and joy to many disabled children.
The new partnership with KIDS is further indicative of Kurt Geiger’s mission to champion disability inclusion. The brand joined The Valuable 500, a global movement committing 500 of the world’s largest businesses to placing disability inclusion on their leadership agendas, back in September 2020, and has been making various commitments to help promote and create a more inclusive culture, industry and society at large.
KIDS supports over 13,700 disabled children and their families every year through multiple initiatives, one being their adventure playgrounds based in numerous communities across London. These playgrounds are specially designed for children with disabilities who are often unable to access normal playgrounds, providing an opportunity for them to play, explore and develop in a safe environment supervised by trained KIDS staff.
Without support from donors like Kurt Geiger KIDS Adventure Playground would be unable to continue their vital work in Hackney. The partnership which includes; a donation of £40,000 and a transformational volunteering project has seen the site restored and reinvigorated in to a bright and stimulating environment for disabled children and their families.
Neil Clifford, Kurt Geiger CEO, says: “KIDS’ commitment to benefitting the lives of disadvantaged children and their families is truly inspiring, and we’re thrilled to have had so many of our employees help restore their adventure playground in Hackney. With kindness being a core value to Kurt Geiger, we’re constantly seeking new ways to apply this sentiment. Having the opportunity to extend this to a local community to our headquarters is particularly touching and we’re eagerly anticipating witnessing the transformative effects these renovations will have for the children.”
In addition to the 150 Kurt Geiger employees who worked on the renovations, Lord Alan Sugar, Lawrence Okoli, Anita Rani, Eric Underwood and Jack Guinness supported the project, with some joining volunteers at the playground to refurbish many areas of the playground. These tasks included repainting the numerous large playground structures, refilling a sandpit, creating a Kurt Geiger nature garden and refurbishing the entrance to the playground.
Katie Ghose, KIDS Chief Executive Officer, says: “We are delighted to be working with Kurt Geiger to ensure that KIDS can continue to offer a vital service to the local community in Hackney. The partnership will help provide a safe and inspiring environment so disabled children and young people in Hackney won’t miss out on opportunities to play learn and grow. We are incredibly grateful to Kurt Geiger for their support which will ultimately improve the lives of many families in and around Hackney.”
Alongside the renovations, Kurt Geiger’s Chief Creative Officer Rebecca Farrar-Hockley and her design team re-designed the playground’s welcome wall, featuring the signature Kurt Geiger rainbow colours which spread across the entire site.
Kurt Geiger has long referred to its rainbow as representative of the brand’s core principles of ‘kindness, joy, inclusivity and hope’ as well as the good energy and love it has for its community. The rainbow has featured in many of the brand’s previous initiatives such as ‘Spread the rainbow and be kind!’ campaign which sought to highlight Kurt Geiger’s ambitious commitment to spreading the value of kindness around the world.
Further to the volunteering week and charitable donation, the brand has launched an exclusive hoodie and cap, with 100% of proceeds going to KIDS. The new hoodies, available in red, blue and black, retail at £59, and the caps, available in black, green, pink, orange and yellow, at £29. Both designs are now available to shop on kurtgeiger.com and in Kurt Geiger boutiques in Westfield White City and Stratford.
