Vanilla Ink cic - beyond profit

How we make a difference

Vanilla Ink has a simple philosophy: EDUCATE INSPIRE EMPOWER. We believe that making is a form of therapy from which every one can benefit. Fairness, tolerance and equality are at our heart with our social enterprise work allowing us to share our passion and skills with those in our community who can benefit the most and are least likely to have access to creative experiences.

Making in any form has therapeutic benefits, and can be incredibly mindful. Not only that, but making something beautiful is both inspiring and empowering. These are feelings that we want to share with those who need that most within our communities. 

We have an acute understanding of the challenges we all face in a world that has changed so drastically in the past two years. With personal experiences of a number of different challenges of our own, we want nothing more than to allow jewellery making and all that it means available to everyone. 

If you work with an organisation or charity that supports individuals or groups who face particular challenges and you would like to talk about working with us, and how we might be able to help, please contact our CEO - ellie@vanillainkcic.co.uk

support us

donate now!

You can help us achieve our aims and goals by donating whatever you can, whenever it’s possible. Each and every penny donated goes towards helping out deserving or vulnerable people who deserve something good in their lives.

Not sure or need more info on what we do? Have a read below about how the services we provide relate and integrate with our core aims.

how our aims and actions align

Classes

Our classes are wide and varied. We cater for the absolute beginner to the expert looking to sharpen their skills. We aim to keep our costs as low as we possibly can so that they are accessible and affordable. Payment plans are always available on request if you need a bit of breathing space in the cashflow department. After overheads such as tutor costs and materials, our class profits go towards our social enterprise work.

Commissions

We’re quite lucky to be blessed with one of this county’s finest craftsmen leading our commissions department. But hey, don’t take our word for it, check out our commission gallery yourself! With all the other work we do, we need to remain selective about what we can take on. We can only ever take on so many jobs at a time but we always try to squeeze in what we can! Again, a large portion of costs made from our commissions is reinvested into our social enterprise work.

STUDIO SPACE

If you’re interested in joining our community here, we got lots of space for you! We can fit in fourteen jewellers across our Communal and Independent Studios. We understand that not only is studio space at a premium but it can be difficult to maintain or begin your jewellery journey. That’s why we keep our monthly rates ridiculously low so that all of our Residents have a chance to build their brands.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

This is the part that all of the above is supported by. We work with all kinds of organisations with the intention of improving people’s lives who otherwise would not have the opportunity of creating jewellery. Whether it be one-off classes, weekly/monthly blocks or completely unique programmes, we can tailor sessions to each organisations requirements. We rely on funding to run these low cost sessions on top of everything we put in ourselves. If you’re interested in what we do or working with us, get in touch!

how you can help

donating is easy!

We’re incredibly grateful for everyone’s support since we began this journey in 2017. We’ve come such a long way but there’s still so much work to be done.

For every class sale, new piece of jewellery made, or new connection created, we do a little dance inside and feel the warmth within our hearts. But we know that you can’t come to all the classes or have a new piece of jewellery made each month [madness!], so we’re giving you all an opportunity to donate to our cause in a smaller, more practical and bitesize manner.

If you believe in what we’re trying to do and want to see our little company flourish, you can donate to us via the link below. It doesn’t matter how little you give, we will ensure that every penny goes towards our aim of making a difference to people’s lives via jewellery making.

Thank you all for your continued support!

You can donate below!