How to be a Craftivist by Sarah Corbett

Author:Sarah Corbett [Corbett, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783524082
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2017-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

1. What challenges do you think your designated hanky-receiver would face trying to implement the living wage?

2. How could you support them in facing those pressures?

3. How would you feel if you were a staff member working full time for this company but couldn’t afford to pay for basic necessities to live comfortably?

I persuaded each craftivist to research more about their board member to help them create the most emotionally engaging bespoke gift they could, in the hope that their designated person would cherish and be inspired by their gift. I encouraged the craftivists to research everything – such as what clothes they wore – watch any talks they have online, read any articles they had written or been interviewed for, find out their hobbies, previous work experience and if they were trustees of any other organisation etc. I emphasised that it was really important to try to get to know them and what makes them tick from their public presence online.

The hanky’s message had to be just as beautiful, thoughtful and graceful as the design was. I asked the craftivists to use the template below for their message but encouraged them to tweak it to suit their board member and themselves. It was intentionally timeless and universal so that it didn’t seem transactional. It deliberately did not mention the Living Wage for this reason. We wanted the board members and others to take ownership of the decision to pay the living wage since they are the ones who will have to enforce it. I encouraged the craftivists to stitch part of the message in their own handwriting to keep the gift personal and intimate but they had creative control over how to design the rest of the layout and in what craft style, such as cross stitch, appliqué or other forms of needlework. The template message was:

Dear [full name of board member including title],

Please don’t blow your opportunity to support life-changing decisions through [said company]...

[an inspiring quote the hanky-receiver could relate to, stitched in a bigger, prettier font with any other embellishments they wanted to make like images/symbols etc.]

Yours sincerely [the maker’s name]

I gave a list of inspiring and relevant quotes to the craftivists as examples of the positive tone, length of quote and style to go for but they could suggest other quotes to use. Caroline, who made a hanky for a senior independent director, said:

My recipient is Sikh and so I found a quote with the help of my Sikh friend: ‘By the karma of good actions, some come to serve the Perfect Guru’ by Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji for my hanky. I want to inspire him to understand that the true quality of a retail brand will be shown by how they treat all their staff.

Craftivist Louise was an economics student and stitched a hanky for the chief financial officer, using the words of Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, ‘Being good is good for business’. Craftivist Gemma made a hanky for a non-executive board member with the message: ‘Kindness is always fashionable and always welcome’.

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