Travel apparel and accessory brand Gandys is now donating 10 per cent of its revenue to building safe havens for children to be cared for and educated. Jenny Southan reports
Twenty years after co-founders Rob and Paul Forkan lost their parents in the 2004 Indonesian tsunami when they were on holiday, their company Gandys is expanding its social impact efforts with the launch of three new children’s projects in Guatemala, Indonesia and Ghana.
So far, the brand has raised over £600,000 to support children in nine global locations – from Mongolia to Malawi – through the building of schools, and the provision of food, therapy and supplies. Now it is donating 10 per cent of its sales (not profit) from every order to Gandys Global Childrens Projects.
Gandys works by teaming up with existing grassroots charities in underdeveloped areas to provide education facilities for children and the community. Every Gandys order helps fund life-changing education to help break the cycle of poverty.
Gandys chair, Nick Robertson, says: “I’ve been an investor and admirer of Gandys for over six years now and have seen first-hand the direct impact we are having on the lives of the kids in our campuses. But we can achieve so much more.
“There are over 1.4 billion children in the world who are failed by any kind of social or governmental support. We firmly believe in education as a powerful first step out of poverty and as a brand we are dedicated to giving as many vulnerable kids as we can a better start in life.”
Gandys founders, Rob and Paul Forkan, say: “When we started we knew we wanted to give back to the most vulnerable children. Sri Lanka was the obvious first choice given the support we received after losing our parents in the tsunami in 2004. We are delighted to be opening our ninth campus and announcing our commitment to giving 10 per cent of every sale to life changing projects that genuinely impact the lives of the children who need it most.”
New 2024 projects:
GUATEMALA (2024) Casa Guatemala
Gandys latest children’s project in Guatemala gives children from deprived rural areas the chance to further their education. Casa Guatemala provides pre-school to primary education for around 200 children in a remote jungle area. The brand funded the building of an additional dormitory for children facing poverty, abandonment or abuse.
GHANA (2024) Future Stars Orphanage and School
In Ghana , chronic hunger affects so many school children which impairs learning, growth and development. Gandys has teamed up with Future Stars Orphanage and School to provide a daily nutritious breakfast for 150 students in the primary and junior high schools.
BALI, INDONESIA (2024) Bali Children’s Project
Gandys has collaborated with Bali Children’s Project, who support communities in rural Balinese villages that face poverty and the effects of climate change and environmental issues. Gandys are renovating three buildings at a school that focuses on early-stage learning in Nyalian Village, which is a small town about 50 minutes from Ubud.
Ongoing work:
SRI LANKA (2014) Freedom for Children Sri Lanka
Gandys first project began in 2014 in the country that inspired the creation of the brand when brothers Rob and Paul lost their parents in the devastating 2004 tsunami. Gandys collaborated with Freedom for Children Sri Lanka to build a school and computer lab and continue financially supporting schooling for disadvantaged children around the Gonapola area.
MALAWI (2017) African Vision Malawi
Gandys collaborated with African Vision Malawi, the NGO that provides an entire community with care, education, nutrition and apprenticeships. The brand stepped in to provide the much needed funding for a preschool for over 200 children and also contribute to the running costs of their food programme.
NEPAL (2019) Chora Chori Nepal
Godawari is a remote area of Nepal badly affected by the Gorkha earthquake in 2015 and where child trafficking is also a huge problem. Gandys teamed up with Chora Chori Nepal and restored a high school that had been severely damaged. Gandys now financially support the Chora Chori Nepal mission to rescue trafficked children as young as nine and provide accommodation, therapy and repatriation.
RIO, BRAZIL (2020)
The Gandys project in Rio, Project Favela, included building a school to support vulnerable children and help to break the cycle of involvement in drugs and gangs. Gandys financially supports Project Favela, the passionate and committed charity that gives children the skills and support they need to build a better future.
MONGOLIA (2021)
Veloo Foundation Gandys work with the Veloo Foundation – a charity helping orphans and disadvantaged children – and built a community library for local children and their families. The library provides shelter from the -50 degree winter temperatures and a place to learn.
BAHIA, BRAZIL (2023)
Casa Amarela and Gandys teamed up with Casa Amarela SCC to fund the running of their new school. Based near Porto Seguro, many of the children attending the school are from indigenous communities and there is a lot of drug trafficking, gangs and crime as well as extreme poverty. The school gives the children a safe space to spend their days learning the skills to build a better future.