Last week, the Health Foundation’s Unequal pandemic, fairer recovery report made headlines, revealing that throughout the pandemic, the chances of dying from Covid-19 were nearly four times higher for adults of working age in England’s poorest areas than for those in the wealthiest places.

The report is just the latest in the string of evidence that the pandemic has not been ‘a great leveller’, as some people referred to it back in the spring of 2020. The UK has struggled with deep-rooted, socioeconomic inequalities for years. Those have not only contributed to the country’s high and unequal death toll from Covid-19 but have also been exacerbated and made worse, particularly for some groups, including ethnic minorities, women and those on low pay.

Andy Ratcliffe, Executive Director for Programmes at Impact for Urban Health, has been working with families in the South London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark to understand how various inequalities impact population’s health. As he explains:

“Health inequality is the starkest manifestation of other inequalities – unfairness tends to layer on unfairness. If you’re subject to systemic racism, you are also more likely to be poor, live in lower quality housing and then you’re more likely to get sick. All those things interact. Fundamentally, it’s the inequality that’s the issue and health inequality is just the starkest example.”

Looking at the impact of the pandemic,  Andy has no doubt that it has made the existing inequalities worse and that this might sadly be just the beginning:

“We layered Covid on top of an already very unequal situation. We haven’t really even started to feel the impacts of the economic pandemic and the long-term health effects of it. We’ve seen a lot of policy changes, such as furlough and the uplift of universal credit, designed to help people through the pandemic. When those start to fall away, we will have an economic wave that could have huge long term health consequences.”

Read more “The pandemic of inequalities”

Clothes are wrapped up in our identity. What we wear says something about us – whether we care about that or not. Over the centuries, clothes have symbolised status. Our outfit can affect our mood. We have special clothes for special occasions. Clothes can be a socio-political statement. And some people can’t afford clothes.

For quite some time, second-hand clothing has been broadly seen as second-rate. There have always been those creative individuals with a flair for unearthing vintage gems in a charity shop, but now society is reaching a tipping point. As someone who is fascinated by human behaviour and how to encourage habits that help the planet, I have been watching this gather momentum over the last few years.

Motivated by ‘voting with their wallet’ and reducing their carbon footprint, individuals have already been pushing change within other sectors e.g. single-use plastics, organic or local food, fairtrade supply chains. But we’ve been a little slower on the clothing front because it’s a hard habit to kick. As I said, clothes are deeply connected to our identity. And the fashion cycle is strong.

But the impact of the clothing industry is becoming harder to ignore: 350,000 tonnes of used but still wearable clothing goes to landfill each year in the UK, and it takes 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for one pair of jeans. Depressingly, the fashion industry is actually responsible for a huge chunk of global water pollution – it consumes more energy than shipping and aviation combined, and by 2050 is anticipated to be responsible for 25% of the world’s remaining carbon budget.

Better late than never, second-hand is experiencing a much-needed makeover. Driven by early adopters and influencers like Michaela Coel and Maquita Oliver, demand is sky-rocketing, with Gen Z at the helm of social norming pre-loved. Brands are having to adapt to put sustainability at the top of the agenda. (The significance of purpose / ESG / sustainability in the boardroom is something that we’ve seen grow steadily with clients across all sectors.)

I’d like to offer some proof points that show businesses need to go beyond organic fabrics and ethical supply chains and embrace a truly circular approach:

• While brands like Mud Jeans have pioneered circular thinking for some time, mainstream brands are now joining the movement. Cos, owned by H&M, has launched a resale service on its website, Asos has seen vintage sales rise by 92% and Asda announced recently that it will sell second hand clothing in 50 supermarkets
• Trend-setting teens have been trading clothes on Depop, Vinted, and Nuw, and renting through apps like Hurr and ByRotation in rising numbers – younger generations are taking their thrift hacks and tutorials to TikTok
• Websites and apps that sell used clothing, such as Loopster and Kidclo, are growing fast, and eBay has sold over 60 million used items in the last year

We’re not there yet, though. The global apparel market is worth $1.5 trillion and is growing. A recent article on Bloomberg highlights that “while #thrifthaul and #knitting have a not-insignificant 456 million and 478 million views respectively on TikTok, #Sheinhaul — in which users showcase purchases from the ultra-cheap, ultra-fast fashion store SHEIN — has 2.3 billion”. And despite Boohoo being exposed for serious ethical failings, it’s still trading and successfully.

The other behaviour to watch out for is that, with the pre-loved market easing the conscience, people will continue to buy new, under the premise that they will re-sell rather than throw away. Charities and leading voices in this sector need to keep the focus on starting with second-hand, rather than easing the psychological burden with ‘recycling’. In the end, recycling is the last of the three pillars around addressing our problem with waste – the first two are ‘reduce’ and ‘reuse’.

But I’m optimistic. Sustainable habits are taking root, and even though this overhaul of the fashion industry will take more than one generation, it feels like a shift that is here to stay.

Here at Stand, we have a morning Stand Up meeting first thing where one of us presents on a topic of our choice, such as talking about which podcasts we’re listening to, great recipes or book recommendations. This week’s was led by Lucy Chapple, our head of client strategy, who’s topic of choice was supporting small business.

Read more “Backing small business in a time of crisis”

Last week, Peter Frates, the man who inspired the hugely successful Ice Bucket Challenge, was sadly laid to rest just aged 34.

Read more “Remembering The Ice Bucket Challenge”

Stand Agency has been appointed by the Engineering Development Trust. EDT is a charity that works to enhance experiences for young people within STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) through the Industrial Cadets programme. By working with education, employers and partners, Industrial Cadets creates a talent pipeline and a future skilled workforce, whilst helping young people to develop the skills they need to enter industry with confidence.

Read more “Stand Agency’s new brief tackles STE(A)M skills crisis”

After two successful and award-winning campaigns focused on increasing seating on the high street, the third instalment of Anchor Hanover‘s Standing Up 4 Sitting Down addressed the issue of seating in public spaces more broadly.

Read more “SU4SD takes on poor public transport etiquette”

We’re thrilled to announce that Armed Forces charity, SSAFA, the UK’s oldest tri-service military charity, has appointed Stand Agency to deliver integrated campaign activity over the next 12 months, including their iconic Armed Forces Week.

SSAFA provides lifelong support for all members of the serving community, veterans and their families when in need. Stand Agency will be working with SSAFA to drive awareness and support for the charity.

Read more “Armed Forces charity SSAFA appoints Stand Agency”

Ah Autumn. The time for snuggling up indoors with some good telly and a cuppa. Right? Nope, not for Team Stand. We’ll be welcoming the start of Autumn with nothing less than a 25km trek in the Peak District as part of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Adventure challenge.

Read more “Stand takes on the DofE Adventure”

After commissioning some research to build the ultimate water-cooler conversation story, last week we created a fantastic buzz for The Reading Agency’s World Book Night.

The story, which looked into Brits’ reading habits, received over 20 pieces of national and consumer coverage, as well as being picked up by regionals nationwide.

Here are some of our favourite pieces: Read more “World Book Night: Revealing the nations reading habits and hang-ups”

Our Standing Up 4 Sitting Down campaign, developed and delivered in partnership with Anchor has been shortlisted for two awards:

Not-for-Profit Campaign: Recognises the most effective public relations work by a charitable or Not-for-Profit organisation in any sector, as well as public relations consultancies working in partnership with them.

Best Use of Media Relations: Recognises the successful use of media relations in a wider public relations context that captures the imagination and meets client and/or campaign objectives.

Read more “We’ve been shortlisted for two CIPR Excellence Awards!”