Giving back with Ticket Tailor: our charity donations for 2023

At Ticket Tailor, we're more than just a ticketing platform. People and the planet are at the heart of what we do, and we strive to make sure every ticket sold on our platform has a positive impact on the world around us. 

That’s why we started our Penny for the Planet promise, with 1 penny of every ticket sale being donated to climate charities. It may sound like a small amount per ticket, but multiply it by millions of tickets and we can start making a real difference to important causes!

Together, in 2023, we donated a grand total of £166,245 ($211,414)! Taking our all time total just shy of £400,000 - thanks for making this possible.

Giving totals by quarter

Q1 - £28,033

Q2 - £30,939

Q3 - £34,735

Q4 - £72,536

Meet the climate charities

Back in 2020 we partnered with three charities: Rainforest Foundation UK, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and Ocean Conservation Trust and last year we welcomed a fourth charity partner, Heal Rewilding.

Keep reading to find out how these charities champion healthy oceans, forests, bogs and fields. And how their crucial work helps the fight against climate change.

From time to time we also donate additional funds to humanitarian crises - more on this below.

THE TICKET TAILOR TEAM AFTER SNORKELLING WITH THE OCEAN CONSERVATION TRUST 2022

Rainforest Foundation UK Donated: £31,556

Rainforests play a vital role in the planet’s water and carbon cycles and in regulating climate. Yet today, rainforest destruction releases more CO2 than all the world’s cars, planes and ships put together. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) promotes the establishment of community rights over rainforest lands, tackling the root of the problems related to deforestation and paving the way for local people to benefit fairly from the use and protection of forest resources. Our donations help to find vital ForestLink tracking technology to prevent illegal logging.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust Donated: £31,556

Peatlands serve as a natural remedy to climate change, acting as an excellent carbon store. Unfortunately, due to lack of care, peatlands are currently releasing carbon that had been securely stored for thousands of years back into our increasingly warm atmosphere. Cumbria Wildlife Trust works to protect and enhance the habitat at a group of nature reserves at Witherslack Mosses. This restoration initiative, supported by your generous donations, involves various activities, including maintaining bog conditions, removal of species growing in the wrong places, planting sphagnum moss to accelerate bog regeneration, and more. This year, we had the pleasure of visiting Cumbria Wildlife Trust and witnessing firsthand the remarkable work they do. During our visit, we explored the Foulshaw Moss Bog Restoration Project (quite a mouthful!), providing us with a glimpse into the direct impact of your contributions in restoring this invaluable carbon-capturing environment.

TEAM TICKET TAILOR AFTER VOLUNTEERING AT FOULSHAW MOSS BOG WITH CUMBRIA WILDLIFE TRUST 2023

Ocean Conservation Trust Donated: £31,556

The Ocean Conservation Trust is a charity of Ocean optimists taking action to protect and restore nature for a thriving Ocean. Their mission involves the restoration and protection of the Ocean, emphasising the pivotal role of people and positive actions. Your donations play a vital role in supporting the Ocean Conservation Trust's Blue Meadows project, dedicated to adopting a holistic approach to protect and restore the UK’s seagrass meadows for the health of our oceans and beyond. Seagrass is a haven for biodiversity (home to 80,000 animals in just one hectare) and serves as a natural shield against coastline erosion and stores carbon for the future. In fact, this king of the ocean outperforms other plants, absorbing carbon up to 35 times more efficiently than tropical rainforests! Impressive. And in 2023 the Ocean Conservation Trust successfully placed over twenty boys, protecting the entirety of Tor Bay’s seagrass meadows!

Heal Rewilding Donated: £30,937 

This year, we were thrilled to announce Heal Rewilding as our fourth charity partner. Heal Rewilding was launched in March 2020 to raise money, buy land across England and rewild it. In December 2022, Heal secured its initial site in the south of England: Heal Somerset. Their mission is to become the UK's first national rewilding landowner and give land back to nature, forever, for nature recovery, climate action and wellbeing. Rewiliding is vital for tackling the climate crisis. By allowing trees and scrub (like hawthorn and wild rose) to naturally regenerate, rewilding removes carbon from the atmosphere. Unlike other land uses, like ploughing, that release soil carbon into the atmosphere, rewilding allows those carbon stores to remain in the soil. Rewilded land also isn’t subject to the use of fertilisers or other harmful chemicals which emit greenhouse gases. Heal's long-term plan is to establish a rewilding site in every English county by 2050, collectively spanning nearly 25,000 acres.

TEAM TICKET TAILOR LITTER PICK WITH THE OCEAN CONSERVATION TRUST 2022

Watch our video about our Penny for the Planet promise — and see the work of Cumbria Wildlife Trust at Foulshaw Moss Bog.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos like this!

Other causes we’ve given to in 2023

Giving back and supporting our community has been part of our DNA since day one. While we have a commitment to our four climate charities, every so often we feel the need to support humanitarian crises. This year we’ve supported the following causes:

Greek Wildfires Donated: £2,500 ($3215.45)

More and more frequently we witness the unfolding disasters brought about by global climate change. This summer, Greece was ravaged by hundreds of wildfires, with dozens erupting each day. So we chose to support this community by donating to The Hellenic Initiative.

Free to be Kids Donated £2,500

We partnered up with fellow B Corp Higson to help support their charity event with Free to Be Kids. These funds helped to support children from vulnerable backgrounds by running residential programmes with a focus on nature, animals and adventure.

Bow Food Bank Donated: £1,563

Bow Food bank is local to Ticket Tailor HQ, and has supported over 3,000 people in East London to meet their basic needs every week since 2014. This year the charity partnered with Bloody Good Period and Big Give to raise awareness about period poverty and period dignity. We donated to their campaign in October, to help them raise £5,000. And at the time of giving Big Give doubled our donation, meaning it was worth £3,124 to the charity.

Hackney Night Shelter Donated: £25,000

Since 1996, Hackney Night Shelter has been offering temporary accommodation and assistance to both men and women throughout the Hackney borough, aiding individuals in finding a lasting route out of homelessness. It’s a cause that’s not only right on our doorstep, but it's one that’s close to the hearts of our team who see homelessness day-in day-out. Back in December we supported the Hackney Night Shelter Christmas fundraising appeal for the second year running by matching all donations - for every donation, big or small, we promised to double it up to a value of £25,000. 

They managed to not only reach their goal of £50,000, but surpass it, raising a total of £65,453 meaning they can continue to offer their incredible service which is crucial to keeping people off the streets and helping to re-house them. 

This year, the Ticket Tailor team extended their support by volunteering at the shelter, engaging in a range of tasks including cleaning, cooking, serving dinner, and socialising with the guests. 

TICKET TAILOR FOUNDER JONNY PRESENTING OUR DONATION TO HACKNEY NIGHT SHELTER DIRECTOR MARK

Looking ahead to 2024

Kicking off 2024, we've unveiled a new 50% charity discount off our ticketing fees for registered charities, meaning more can be raised for your cause. As we enter the new year, we're also looking forward to continuing our support for our four climate charity partners through our quarterly Penny for the Planet giving.

We want to say a huge thank you - by choosing Ticket Tailor you’re helping to create a positive change for people and the planet. The more tickets sold, the bigger the impact.

To see how else we give back, check out our impact page, and have a read of our 2022 Impact Report (2023 Report coming soon!).