We are welcoming a new section in our Newsletter highlighting the amazing work our partners do and our collaboration. We are extremely grateful for Leiho to be the first organisation in this new section, we have worked together for more than two years now and we absolutely love them and their work.
Leiho was founded in 2019 by Joey and Thuta, two friends who met in university that wanted to start a brand that supported local vulnerable communities. They started as a ‘buy one give one’ sock company selling ethical bamboo socks and for every pair sold, another was donated to someone experiencing homelessness. By working closely with charities, they found a need for upskilling opportunities within vulnerable communities and started exploring the idea of running creative workshops that supported skills development, confidence building and work experience for individuals living in temporary accommodation.
That’s how we were connected with the Home-start Camden & Islington family! To date, we’ve partnered with Home-start Camden & Islington on 2 creative workshops, running sessions to empower individuals through expressive art as well as 3 employment workshops supporting 7 mums to gain paid work experience making and crafting Leiho products such as Eco-friendly Christmas Sock Crackers and Gift boxes for Mother’s Day. We’ve been so fortunate to work closely with the amazing women supported by Home-start Camden & Islington who have inspired us with their own strengths and resilience. One of the mums we worked with shared with us that she was “Looking forward to the workshop the entire week!” These are the type of feedback that keeps us going on difficult days.
Some more feedback we received from the women we’ve worked with are:
“The workshop made me feel active, relaxed, motivated and inspired. Thuta and Joey were both encouraging, kind and extremely nice and warm. I am grateful for being picked to participate in the workshop” – Ornella, mum supported.
“It was amazing to see how creative and therapeutic the experience could have on me. I feel absolutely amazing and great to be part of something meaningful and purposeful. This taught me a new skill and I am glad. I like learning.” – Naomi, mum supported
Today, Leiho is a lifestyle brand selling everyday clothing and gifts that are ethically sourced and beautifully curated – 5% of the funds go towards empowering local underserved communities to be the best versions of themselves. We’ve also launched a B2B arm of the business called House of Impact by Leiho, offer ethical branded merchandise for businesses and events. Every order also supports the impact projects we do so if you’re looking for custom merchandise, please do give us a shout at dogood@houseofimpact.co.uk.
