Our Autumn Sustainability Update is here! Read on to learn about the sustainability initiatives we've been working on this quarter…

Volunteering at Broughton Sanctuary

To mark World Nature Conservation Day, we spent another afternoon volunteering on the site where Joanie HQ is based, this time with the Site Forager. We worked in the garden, where they’re cultivating a variety of British species. To give these plants the best chance to thrive, we spent the afternoon removing some of the more invasive species, predominantly thistles. Half of the team worked to prevent the surrounding thistles from spreading their seeds into the garden, while the other half was in the garden weeding out any invasive plants.

It was fascinating to learn about the abundance of edible plants native to England and the health benefits they have. It’ll be exciting to see how the garden grows and the food they’ll harvest from it. Watch our field trip video to find out more!

Cats Protection

We’ve teamed up with Cats Protection on a purrfect collab, paying them £5 from the sale of every Bombalurina Tee. Cats Protection is the UK’s largest cat welfare charity, helping an estimated 157,000 cats and kittens a year through their national network of around 210 volunteer-run branches and 34 centres. As part of the collaboration, two members of the Joanie Team went over to the North Manchester Cats Protection site for a volunteering day. All the money raised will go directly to this site, and it was great to see where the money will be going.

DEBRA UK

We've also teamed up with DEBRA UK, a national medical research charity and patient support organisation for people living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB). We're donating £5 from the sale of every Constance Dress to the charity to aid them in their mission to provide care and support for people living with EB, and fund pioneering research to find effective treatments for all types of EB.

Epidermolysis Bullosa, also commonly known as butterfly skin, is a group of rare and incredibly painful skin blistering conditions. It causes the skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch, leaving raw, open wounds. Members of the Joanie Team took part in the Lake District Challenge with DEBRA UK, just one of the many fantastic events the charity holds to raise money and awareness for its vital work. It was such a rewarding experience, and we'd highly recommend getting involved if you can!

Salford Lads Club

We're teaming up with Salford Lads & Girls Club, donating the profits from the sales of our Joyce Jumper to aid them in their mission to brighten young lives and create good citizens. 100% of profits raised from the sales of the jumper will go directly towards youth, culture, and heritage programmes, from open-access youth sessions and girls’ football to music and heritage engagement work, all of which are at the heart of the club’s mission.

To celebrate the launch of this collaboration, members of the Joanie Team volunteered at the club, lending their expertise to help with running the on-site shop! It was clear to see how passionate the Salford Lads Club Team were, and being able to see first-hand where the funds we're raising will go was so rewarding.

Spare Buttons

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to repair your clothes so you can love them for even longer, which is why we include a handy spare button on all of our buttoned styles! We’ve moved this to the care label to make it easier to find if you ever need it - follow our easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorial to learn how to sew a button back on.

New Knitwear Composition

We recently launched a new knitwear composition, 100% recycled post-consumer polyester. This is something we've been working hard to source, because monofibres are a lot easier to recycle than blended fibres and therefore contribute to a more circular economy.

Pilling is the name for those annoying bobbles that form on knitwear, and this is a common issue with recycled fibres, as they are shorter. This can happen to even the highest quality materials, such as cashmere, due to the nature of these fibres.

We're putting together a blog post all about how to care for your recycled knitwear with tips and tricks on how to tackle pilling and keep your knitwear looking as good as the day you bought it - watch this space!

If you have any suggestions for any sustainability initiatives or other things we can get involved in, let us know! Get in touch at: [email protected].