I Do and SNAP Ikea Birmingham Trip for St Basils Charity
Something a bit different today, as I thought I’d share some pictures I shot in Ikea Birmingham, on a trip I made with some of the SNAP Photography Festival community and Emma and Pete from the I Do Community, to buy items for starter packs for homeless young people through St Basils.
I run SNAP Photography Festival. It’s been going for around 5 years and is a kind of an anti-conference. We all go away for a few days in the countryside and there are workshops and keynotes from some of the best photographers in the world, sessions from creatives outside of the photography industry, activities (we had an African Drumming session this year and it was immense!), amazing food and an awesome party.
SNAP Gives Back in partnership with I Do
For the last couple of years we also focussed on a theme that runs alongside the festival. This year’s was SNAP Gives Back. We partnered with I Do to run a whole load of charity fundraising activities. Activities included a sponsored static bike ride throughout the event and a charity auction. We raised a mind-blowing £8000 and, frankly, we were totally thrilled.
Here’s how we split the money:
Part of it went to Barton Camp, our 2019 SNAP venue. Barton Camp is a residential camp run by The Bristol Children’s Help Society. They host youth groups, school groups and others and offer subsidised residential retreats for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our donation and hiring of the site in the first place will help to fund future camps for kids.
Supporting I Do and their projects and SNAPster’s charities
Part of it went back into I Do. I Do does all sorts of amazing stuff like running a Christmas list for a family refugee camp and building up £500 charity pots through donations and subscriptions where members nominate charities to receive funds. I Do is working on growing over the next few months, so the extra funding will help to recruit new members, create new partnerships and build on the foundation that Emma and Pete have created. You can join or donate here.
Part of it went to 4 charities nominated by SNAPsters, that they work with directly. From animal charities to charities for parents who’ve lost babies, the SNAP community is a kind and caring bunch and I couldn’t be more proud of them.
St Basils charity in the Midlands
Finally, part of it went towards funding starter packs for young, homeless people that are moving into new homes. St Basils works with young people aged 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and they help over 5000 young people per year across the Midlands region with specific services in Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, the Wyre Forest and Coventry.
The reason for our Birmingham Ikea trip was to shop for the items that were needed for the packs. It was a long, intensive day. We met at Ikea in Birmingham at 10am and by the time we’d put together each pack, it was close to 10pm by the time I got home. We all felt really positive and uplifted at the end of it though.
Here’s what happened!
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