Help Refugees Choose Love store | 2018The world’s first store where you can buy real gifts for refugees

Image: interior of the 2018 New York Choose Love store

We’ve created a new way to give

With all the hype around Black Friday and Christmas shopping, we wanted to try something different. Instead of gadgets and jeans, what would happen if we bought items that could make a real difference to someone’s life?

On Black Friday in 2017, Help Refugees and creative collective Glimpse opened Choose Love: the world’s first store where you can buy real gifts for refugees. We created a beautiful shop in London with practical items like tents, nappies and sleeping bags for sale. But instead of taking them home, each purchase bought a similar item for someone who truly needs it.

In 2018, we took this model a step further. We opened two two stores; one in London, one in New York. This time around, this model of charitable giving raised £2 million, supported by generous match-funding from the Gates Foundation and Mountain Philanthropies. It enabled thousands of items of winter essentials to be provided for refugees around the world and engaged millions of people with a really positive message.

How it worksWorking with some of the world’s best designers, in partnership with innovative social enterprise and creative collective Glimpse, we created a beautiful, immersive shopping experience.

The items displayed in our stores represent the three phases of many refugees’ experience: Arrival, Shelter and The Future. Every day, these items are distributed by Help Refugees and our partners across Europe and the Middle East. From children’s shoes to babygrows and food packs, we offer a range of items to suit every age and budget. For people buying items as presents, beautiful gift cards are available to help make these gifts feel even more special.

Photos and positive stories about refugees are placed around the stores, helping people learn more as they browse. Volunteers are on-hand to answer any questions. And we use our network of high-profile celebrities and influencers to generate a real buzz around the stores.

Most importantly, we believe funds should go straight to the where they’re needed most. So we ensure 100% of donations from the stores go to straight to support front line services.

Image: volunteers at the 2018 London Choose Love store

Image: children on the Greek island of Samos receive warm winter clothes funded by Choose Love

The impact of the 2018 Choose Love stores

“In the middle of winter, many people here are forced to live in inadequate, makeshift shelters. The Choose Love shop has been vital, enabling us to distribute desperately-needed food, hygiene items and warm clothes to the people here.

It’s been a lifeline”Aris

Attika Human Support, Greece

30,000 people shopped in our stores over the 2018 festive period

which raised an incredible £2m.

So far, we’ve provided over 400,000 nutritious meals

and 1,000 nights in warm, safe accommodation for families.

We’ve provided 280,000 nappies

and have improved toilet and shower facilities for over 5,000 people on Lesvos.

and enabled a rescue boat to spend 3 months saving lives at sea.

We’ve given 6,000 warm blankets and 3,000 sleeping bags

“It enabled us to buy shoes for every child in the camp. Choose Love helped make the situation for refugees and the aid they urgently need feel so much more tangible. When people know what they buy will get to where it’s really needed, they’re more willing to give”

Image right: children in Katsikas camp in Northern Greece receive warm clothes funded by Choose Love

JohnRefugee Support, Greece

The shop generated 544 individual news stories.This had an Advertising Value Equivalency* of £6.4mThis included features by the BBC, New York Times, CNN, The Guardian and many more.

All of which had a global reach of around693 million people. *This is approximately what it would cost to get this level of coverage through paid advertising.

Image: Banksy’s ‘Dream Boat’ sculpture - donated to raise funds for Help Refugees

This is more than a store. This is a movement.

The Help Refugees story

Set up by a group of friends, in just three years we’ve grown from a social media campaign into a charity that’s helped almost 1m people across 12 countries.

This is because we do things differently. We’re a group of everyday people doing the work that governments and larger NGOs are failing to.

Challenging old and outdated models of charity, our work shows how ordinary people can step up and make a real difference to the lives of those in need.

We’re a pioneering charity leadinga new movement in humanitarian aid.We work with, and for, refugees.

Image: our very first shipment of aid for Calais, as a result of the #helpcalais campaign.

“Help Refugees is one of the unsung heroes of the European refugee crisis, a young grassroots collective that has tried to create a more dynamic form of aid in Calais and Greece, where even seasoned aid workers admit their traditional models have failed”

The Guardian

www.helprefugees.org / www.choose.lovewww.facebook.com/helprefugeesukwww.twitter.com/helprefugeeswww.instagram/helprefugeesuk

Help Refugees is a restricted fund under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund, UK Charity No 1099682. Choose Love is a UK Registered Charity No 1177927. In the USA, Choose Love, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization. Help Refugees’ advocacy work is carried out under Limited Company number 09842577.

Project delivered in collaboration with Glimpse, a UK social enterprise which helps creative people use their skills for good.Find out more at: www.weglimpse.co