Words by Smiley Team
16 small businesses collaborate with London-based charity Mosaik Education to launch the Mosaik Christmas Shop, raising money to support refugees accessing university.
Each small business owner has chosen an item from their collection which will be featured in the online Mosaik Christmas Shop. With each item sold, the small business makes a donation to Mosaik, taking a refugee student closer to their dreams.
Mosaik provides support to refugees in the Middle East through a combination of digital courses and peer-to-peer advice that addresses language skills, information gaps and wellbeing barriers. All programmes are created in collaboration with young refugees and are tailored to the local community.
Whilst the global average rate enrolment in university stands at 37%, only 3% of refugees reach university. Not only does this limit their potential employment and contribution to their host community but it also impacts a nation's ability to rebuild post-conflict with whole generations missing crucial skills.
The small businesses involved include Glasgow-based jeweller Freya Im, natural skincare brand Tropikal Sundai, and candle makers, Bouclé.
“We are super excited to launch this collaboration with an amazing group of small business owners” says Mosaik founder Ben Webster. “We were incredibly impressed and grateful to many small businesses that volunteered to help us with our Christmas fundraising this year, despite the financial challenges presented by Covid-19. We hope this initiative can raise awareness of the barriers refugees face in education - and help raise money that directly supports refugees in reaching university”.
“I am the granddaughter of refugees and have great sympathy for those who have had to flee their homes to seek new life. I’m so lucky to have been to university twice and believe everyone deserves an education.” Bronwyn Lowenthal, founder of sustainable womenswear label Lowie who are participating in the Mosaik Christmas Shop.
Christmas gifts can be purchased from https://mosaik.ngo/shop until 15th December. You can also donate directly to the charity by heading to https://mosaik.ngo/
