Giving Tuesday 2018

The idea of kicking a habit is great in theory, but would you sacrifice caffeine or bin the booze for a good cause?

Architecture charity AzuKo has helped raise over £650 by challenging its supporters to do just that for Giving Tuesday 2018.

The charity’s ‘Break a Habit, Reach a Goal’ campaign ran from November 27 and throughout December, challenging supporters to go without something and donate the money saved to AzuKo.

With total donations of £656, 34 women in Bangladesh will now be able to attend ‘build for safety’ training, which provides people who live in hazardous locations with simple and affordable tools to strengthen their housing infrastructure.

And the charity say that is just the start – founder and director Jo Ashbridge said the team hope they can help train 120 women in 2019.

Speaking about the benefits of using Giving Tuesday as a platform, Jo said:

“It allows us to share who we are, what we do and the impact we have. It’s a global day of giving, encouraging people to give what they can for worthy causes. As a small charity it’s a fantastic way to be part of the dialogue and raise vital funds for our work.”

She added: “We have been a part of the day since it launched in the UK in 2014. It’s a regular event in our fundraising calendar. We’d absolutely encourage others to join, particularly smaller charities like ourselves who often don’t get the opportunity to tell their story. It’s important we have a voice on a global stage. The day is also full of warmth and gratitude, which is a great feeling.”

She said the campaign was visual and focused largely on digital and social media channels to get the word out, encouraging supporters to tweet selfies with what they gave up for AzuKo.

Jo added:

“It was fantastic to see engagement from both existing and new supporters. We saw a whole range of sacrifices, from giving up a daily cappuccino or December’s trip to the hairdressers, to swapping the commute to work on the underground for a bicycle.”

On plans for Giving Tuesday 2019, Jo said: “We’ll be back with something special. Stay tuned!”

To donate to the project visit: https://azuko.org/build-for-safety – it costs just £19 to enable one woman to join AzuKo’s training.