Cotton On Group’s philanthropic arm, Cotton On Foundation, announced it has raised more than $63 million over the last 10 years through the sale of everyday items such as water bottles, mints and tote bags across the group’s global store network.
One hundred per cent of the proceeds of the items, sold between $1 and $3, went directly to the foundation which helps deliver quality education to children in Southern Uganda, South Africa, Thailand and Australia’s northern territory.
Since its inception, the majority of the Foundation’s work has been carried out in Uganda, where the organisation has proudly delivered over 5,800 educational structures, 104 new classrooms, three health care centres which have provided care for more than 100,000 people, and upward of six million meals and two million litres of fresh drinking water to local communities.
With a commitment to deliver 20,000 educational structures by 2020, the Foundation has expanded its work to South Africa with the redevelopment of Ethekwini Primary School in Durban which will create 1,500 educational places, together with the construction of a brand new school in Bwe K’lar near Mae Sot in Thailand which will deliver a further 200 educational structures.
The Foundation has also been working closely with Indigenous communities in Northeast Arnhem Land to deliver music workshops to children and adolescents in partnership with the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala. In addition to this, the Foundation has partnered with the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, to support an innovative educational program called Learning On Country, which takes learning from the classroom to the bush, where the traditional owners of the land and elders become teachers. With this, students would be able to reconnect with their history, and build a strong identity and cultural connection.
“Through the continued support of our team members and customers around the world, the Cotton On Foundation is on track to deliver 20,000 educational places by 2020, and help break the cycle of extreme poverty,” the group announced during its 10-year anniversary celebration last month.
To launch the celebrations, curated content was captured in an interactive installation at the Group’s Global Support Centre in Geelong. Equipped with virtual reality headsets, the installation allowed team members to see the work of the Foundation firsthand by immersing themselves in real life projects currently being undertaken in Southern Uganda, South Africa, Thailand and the Northern Territory.
Father Mugisha Nestus, who travelled all the way from Uganda, was a special guest in the group’s monthly barbeque which was themed with Ugandan food and music. He shared accounts of his childhood in Mannya and the evolution of the community since the Foundation first started its work there 10 years ago.
The celebrations culminated with a ’10 Years of Foundation’ photo exhibition at the Group’s Global Support Centre, transforming its on-site cafe into a gallery space with over 70 pieces on display.
“Thanks to their altruistic nature, coupled with the efforts of our 22,000 team members globally, a Foundation product is now sold every three seconds globally; a number that has allowed us to significantly expand our projects in Southern Uganda while taking the Foundation global with new initiatives in South Africa, Thailand and Australia’s Northern Territory,” the group’s foundation announced.
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