Charity |Pot 15 year anniversary graphic

Charity pot since 2007

Charity Pot : The Essential Guide

Have you heard about Charity Pot? It’s our body lotion with a difference. 

Charity Pot is a special hand and body lotion, launched in 2007 to raise funds for small grassroots charities, campaigns, and not-for-profit groups working in the areas of animal protection, human rights, and the environment. Charity Pot aims to help stretched and often overlooked organisations be able to get on with the incredible work they do. 

From the ethically sourced ingredients to the soothing effect on your skin, to the funds donated to grassroots causes all over the world – each step of the way is supporting positive change.

The hand and body lotion is available in both packaged and naked form, and a fine fragrance called Grassroots also contributes to the fund.

Since 2007, Charity Pot has donated over £74 million with over 15,500 donations across 174 countries.

We see Charity Pot as a special collaboration with our customers – Lush gives its time and raw materials, so that when a customer buys Charity Pot, all of the money (minus government taxes) can go straight to helping good causes.

Charity Pot gives grants of between £100 – £10,000 to small and predominantly volunteer-run organisations, especially those with limited resources who find it challenging to source funding from elsewhere. We try to help as many different organisations as possible.

£74m

Raised through Charity Pot since 2007

15500

Groups funded so far, read on to discover more…

16

Years

Watch Now: Charity Pot Explained

2023

Boxtribute

JANUARY

East African Crude Oil Pipeline Host Communities

JANUARY

Europe Must Act

JANUARY

European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights

JANUARY

Every Future Foundation

JANUARY

Koalisi Rakyat untuk Hak atas Air

JANUARY

Lighthouse Relief

JANUARY

London LGBTQ+ Community Centre

JANUARY

Portsmouth Pride Trust

JANUARY

Screen Share UK

JANUARY

Stonehenge Heritage Action Group

JANUARY

Umoja Women’s Center (UWC)

JANUARY

Urban Goodies CIC

JANUARY

3D Centre

february

Batwa Community Development Organisation

February

Doing What Really Matters Consultants CIC

FEBRUARY

Hope Project Lesvos

FEBRUARY

Klikaktiv – Center for Development of Social Policies

FEBRUARY

Offene Arme e.V.

FEBRUARY

Oil Refinery Residents Association

FEBRUARY

Project Armonia

FEBRUARY

Rethink Rebuild Society

FEBRUARY

The Resistance Exhibition

February

Action et Humanisme

MARCH

Action on Armed Violence

MARCH

Afghan Voice CIC

March

Great Central Gazette

march

Gun Free Kitchen Tables

march

Pikolo Association

march

Source of the Nile Union of Persons with Albinism

march

Spit it Out

march

Travellerspace

march

Climate Emergency UK

JANUARY

9Trees CIC

JANUARY

Cae Felin CSA CIC

JANUARY

Debt for Climate Switzerland

JANUARY

Extension Rebellion Rutshuru

JANUARY

Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport

JANUARYJANUARY

Guerrillas Of Love

JANUARY

KALLOP HUMANITARIAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE

JANUARY

Kitsquad

JANUARY

Meg Wah (My Earth)

JANUARY

Oxford Friends of the Earth

JANUARY

Peace Education Scotland

JANUARY

Share

JANUARY

Sheffield Community Bike Project

JANUARY

Swansea University Tree Society

JANUARY

Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group

JANUARY

Voice of Nature (VoNat)

Centre for Environment Research and Agricultural Innovations

FEBRUARY

GreenSeas Trust

FEBRUARY

Hadfield

FEBRUARY

Hogsmill Community Garden

FEBRUARY

Lessons In Future Environments

FEBRUARY

Liberate Hemp

FEBRUARY

Namubi Tubana

FEBRUARY

Sheffield Fruit Trees Ltd.

FEBRUARY

Act Now – Making a Drama out of a Crisis

MARCH

All about change

MARCH

Castle Loch Lochmaben Community Trust

MARCH

Improve Our Village NGO

MARCH

Maru Action Development Foundation

MARCH

Persatuan Aktivis Sahabat Alam

MarCH

SOS North Kelsey

MarCH

Swarm Dynamics

MarCH

Tulgey Woods Sanctuary CIC

MarCH

Cetacean Research
& Rescue Unit

Cheshire Against Blood Sports

Devon Dog Behaviour Rehab and Rehome

Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary

HappyCats Rescue

Little Nest Rescue C.I.C

National Anti Snaring Campaign

Slygas

The Ferret

Animal Justice Project

2022

Demilitarise Education Ltd

Micro Rainbow CIC

Gateshead City of Sanctuary

Help Kassi Kunda

Alridha Foundation

ECHO for Refugees

Glasgow Autonomous Space

Labour Behind the Label

Pregnant Then Screwed

Pride in Surrey (Surrey LGBTQ Pride CIC)

Refugee Legal Support

Wake-Up Cameroon

Waltham Forest Migrant Action

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts

Disability Advice Service
(East Suffolk)

Give Your Best

LGBT Unity Glasgow/Scotland

LGBTQ Yemen

Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival Committee

Rural Aid Foundation

Samosa Sisters – Women’s Empowerment Group

The Free Shop

The View

WAYout Arts for Youth

Wellington Films Ltd

YOUTH FOR GREEN COMMUNITIES

A.Ss.I.S.T. (Asylum Seekers Information Services Team)

Cianna’s Smile

FFIPP Europe – Educational Network for Human Rights in Palestine/Israel

Just Action

MayDay Rooms

MeTU

Cultural Association Contrario

Endless Medical Advantage

Grange Over Sands Community Foodshare

Life Seekers Aid

Nepal Enable

Papua Partners

Samphire

Solidarity Rising

Superpower Partners

The Vavengers

Wellness First

Wothouq e.V.

Peace of Mind

Support and Love Via Education (S.A.L.V.E.) International

Europe Must Act

JANUARY 2023

European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights

JANUARY 2023

Power For People

Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions

Fæld Klimafælden

African Initiative On Food Security and Environment

Extinction Rebellion University of Goma

Royd Community Garden Group

Nuclear Information Service

Environmental Alliance Project CIC

Final Straw Foundation

Low Traffic Future

UK Center for Animal Law

Friend Farm Animal Sanctuary

Hoedspruit Animal Outreach

Animal Rescue Serbia

The Wight Hunt Sabs

Tanzania Animal Welfare Society

The CAT fund, St. Dennis

The Special Branch

Yayasan Terbang Indonesia

Friends of K9 Trust

Keep The Ban

Northamptonshire Badger Group

Sorrento Coast Animal Rescue

Tamesides People 4 Wildlife

Northumberland Hunt Watch

The Animal House Rescue

Ubuntu Spirit of Africa Wildlife Recue and Rehabilitation Sanctuary NPC

Wild Things Rescue

SUPPORTING GRASSROOTS

Charity Pot grants provide targeted funding to small, grassroots groups working in the areas of animal protection, human rights, and the environment. We prioritise groups campaigning to create long-term change which will benefit large sections of society and we try to help those whose radical stance and approach might make it difficult for them to source funding from elsewhere.

Prioritising campaigning projects

Most donors favour the funding of short-term measures which provide quick results and feel-good images. However, short-term measures are unlikely to create lasting change. Grassroots groups are very effective at addressing the root cause of problems as they are working towards long-term solutions. Their messages and demands are also unpolluted by corporate interests and political factors. It is grassroots groups, involved in nonviolent direct action and campaigning, that play a vital role in challenging popular opinion and pushing for progression in society. By funding these groups, we are supporting change that is worth fighting for.

Supporting new groups

Newly established  groups, especially those reacting to a new issue (such as fracking) can be very effective at defending the environment, people and animals affected. Of course, there is added risk in supporting a newly formed group, but it’s one we think is worth taking. Many grassroots groups, especially those engaged in campaigning, are not registered charities. If we limited our funding to only those groups that have registered with the Charity Commission we would severely impact our ability to support important community groups. Whilst charity registration may give a group the added incentive to be accountable, it would say little of their ethics, effectiveness or need.

EVENTS AND GRANTS

Lush funds grassroots groups in two different ways; through local Charity Pot events, or with a grant from the central Charity Pot Fund.

Events

Local Charity Pot events were created as a way of giving stores the opportunity to support local grassroots organisations that their teams are passionate about from within their communities. Having local groups for these events allows the stores to help to create a sense of community support between these groups, their causes and our customers, and gives groups the ability to share their own work with local people who otherwise might not have heard of them.

During a Charity Pot event all the money raised through sales of Charity Pot will go to the group the store has chosen to host.

Grants

All the money raised through the sales of Charity Pot (outside of the local events) is placed into a central fund from which grants can be given to groups working in the areas of: Animal Protection, Human Rights and The Environment. Charity Pot grants provide one-off funding to small, grassroots organisations. We prioritise projects that aim to create long-term change as Lush believe it is important to fund projects aiming to target the root cause of a problem, not just its effects.

Charity Pot grants can range in size between £100 – £10 000. Groups are asked to submit an online application to the central Charity Pot fund with details of their group, project, budget etc. which will be looked at by a funding panel before a decision is made.

Whereas local events are designed to support local groups, the central Charity Pot fund aims to support as many different organisations as possible from all over the world.

As well as supporting amazing grassroots communities through funding, Charity Pot also has some pretty special ingredients which support farmers and growers all over the world. This self-preserving hand and body lotion is made with materials sourced from a variety of projects, including Fair Trade, organic Colombian cocoa butter; geranium oil from Mountain Organic Farming (MOOF), Kenya; and Fair Trade shea butter from the Women’s Ojoba Collective, Ghana.

ALOE FROM KENYA
The Maasai people of Kenya are pastoralist. Cattle rearing is traditionally done by men, who move from one place to another in order to find suitable pastures while the women and children remain at home.

In partnership with Laikipia Permaculture Center, the Lush Buying team is working with the women to green the desert land, introducing nutritious plants, alongside aloe, to improve both the land and provide a food crop.

The leaves arrive in their full form and are freshly cut at the factory to extract the gel. The Center reinvest the money they earn from selling their aloe into projects like fencing to protect the aloe from being trampled on by wild elephants and camels.

MORINGA FROM GHANA
At the Ghana Permaculture Institute, mushroom farming goes hand in glove with moringa oil, another Charity Pot staple. In this project Lush met a kindred spirit: Paul Yeboah, the director of the Ghana Permaculture Network and a devoted permaculture expert with the ability to breathe life back into degenerated land to grow badly needed crops. The 24 acres of land chosen outside of Techiman, Ghana was characterised by a chronic lack of fertility. Within this now species-rich food forest and training site grows moringa, also known as ‘The Miracle Plant’. Pressed to produce a light and antioxidant-rich oil, moringa goes into Charity Pot, too.

A person dressed in red clothing stands in a large field of aloe secundiflora, bending slightly to cut the plant with a knife
Ojoba Womans Cooperative
Various leafy green plants sit in pots and bags
A Few of our Suppliers for Charity Pot ingredients

I love everything about this product, from the ingredients that support farmers, to the funds that enable grassroots charities to make a difference and the effectiveness of this product when applied to the skin.  Win, win, win.

Rowena Bird, Lush co-founder and inventor
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