Our Ethical Business projects have a number of purposes.
- we started these with the idea to fund the work we do with our survivors (Covid has set this aim right back!)
- so we can model to other businesses how to put people over profit and have a low risk of slavery in supply chains.
- to give every Australian an opportunity to do something about this crime. By aligning their spending with ethical values.
- raise awareness that slavery happens in Australia and work toward ending it.
We have a number of ethical business ventures where 100% of profits support our mission:
- a cafe where supply chains are ethical and people know they are making a difference.
- an event venue for weddings, parties, meetings, conferences, and corporate events.
- ethical retail for gifts both in-store and online
- ethical wholesale coffee, tea, and gifts online
- and our ethical business services. We help small businesses submit a voluntary Modern Slavery Statement and all businesses with processes, procedures, and training staff. (Read more about our NEW online modern slavery training below!)
Cafe and Event News for Q1:
As Covid restriction lifted revenue began to pick up. While the cafe closed Q1 still 55% down on 2019 sales the events really began to pick up. Weddings and private functions rolled over from 2020 began and many new enquiries for 2021 began. This stretched our team of 2 staff to the max, so we decided to employ a NEW CAFE MANAGER !!! We are so excited to have Cameron Brown join our team. He comes with years of hospitality experience. In recent years and he has specialised in social enterprise hospitality.
Cameron Brown
On the 28th August 2021, we are launching the Freedom Fair in our Waterloo Venue. (We are still trying to work out the name for this!). It will be profiling different businesses that are ethical, with stories about where slavery is found within their sector. We will have speakers, seminars, indigenous art, and music. Save the date and watch your emails for more updates on this exciting NEW project.
Retail and Wholesale News
Our Social Traders Accreditation has been renewed for another year. As a result, we are receiving plenty of catering orders from local and CBD businesses. Also, Retail and Wholesale coffee enquiries are picking up and we are in the process of looking to increase our gift range. We see this as a great area to expanding our revenue for 2021 as more and more people are caring about making good choices when they shop.
Ethical Business Services
It has been exciting to see so many Modern Slavery Statements submitted onto the Modern Slavery Register. We have continued to work with small businesses and large businesses to help them with this process. In Q1 we trained a number of teams and spoke on a number of panels to help entities interested in submitting a statement. If your company or workplace is interested in finding out how we can help contact us here.
If you are wanting to know more about Modern Slavery or have your team do some online training, take a look at our NEW online Modern Slavery course. It is a great way to ensure you know everything there is to know about this and it is great for staff to understand why they need to be more mindful. Click here to see our online training.
Thank you to everyone who has found a way to support our business ventures so far this year. We hope that by 2022 we will be back to full trading and be able to support our cause more. In the meantime, your ongoing support, online or in our Sydney venue, is really appreciated. Help here.