Black Friday may be one of the biggest shopping days on the calendar, but it has also spawned a flurry of alternatives to the consumer frenzy from brands and charities.
Greenpeace has teamed up with partners including Fashion Revolution and Shareable to back Make Smthing week, during which artists and crafters lead workshops on creative ways to reuse, repair or recycle goods.
Events taking place over the weekend include ShareFest in Totnes, Festival of Sustainable Fashion in London’s Hackney and Leeds Community Clothes Exchange.
The Charities Aid Foundation is backing the UK’s efforts for global charity event Giving Tuesday on 27 November, which encourages people to do something for – or give something to – a charity they care about. Celebrities including blogger and Strictly Come Dancing participant Joe Sugg, Ricky Gervais and Martin Lewis are supporting the day which last year raised £213m online alone around the world.
In the UK, PayPal will match donations made on the day via its fundraising page or app up to a total of £50,000.
Some brands will also be supporting charitable efforts on the day including clothing chain FatFace, tea label Pukka Herbs and Pret a Manger.
Fatface will donate up to £100,000 of profits made over the weekend to charities including Nepal Appeal, the Prince’s Trust Tomorrow’s Talent programme and recycled swimwear maker Ocean Positive. It will also give the top 10 trading stores £2,000 each to donate to local community charities.
“The whole Black Friday thing is fake and customers are getting wise to it,” said FatFace boss Anthony Thompson.
“Bigger brands and retailers should look very hard at what they are doing. They are damaging the high streets and local independent traders who can’t compete with these fake promotions and customers are getting ripped off.”
However, FatFace was offering up to 50% discounts on its website on Friday.
Pret is giving the chance for customers to spread some cheer by handing out 300,000 free drink tokens over this week that can be handed on to someone in need. Pukka will be donating 100% of sales made via its own website from 23 November to 26 November to the Treesisters reforestation charity.
