HTSI editor’s letter: How To Give It... again 

This is our second issue of How To Give It, which focuses on a range of philanthropic efforts both large and small. Many of the stories featured this week look at foundations and organisations created to do creative good. For the past 30 years, Alan Grieve, a redoubtable figure of 93, has been one of the leading benefactors in the cultural sector. As chairman and company director of the Jerwood Foundation, he has given away more than £108m in capital and revenue to various arts and educational programmes and created a blueprint for “business philanthropy” that can be rolled out around the world. In an interview at his office in Shropshire, he looks back on his anniversary year with an astute and uncompromising candour. He may be a major influence when it comes to “how to give it” but he’s not remotely woolly, as Harriet Quick finds out.

Other people in the magazine are also using their influence to encourage societal change. Shilpa Yarlagadda established her jewellery brand Shiffon with a simple premise – a pinky ring to promote female kindness and empowerment. Still a Harvard undergraduate, she has helped establish a network of female mentors, built a thriving business and collaborated with Michelle Obama on some vote-incentivising hoops. She also gives 50 per cent of profits from the Duet Pinky Ring, and 10 per cent from other designs, to female-led startups. At 24, she’s the epitome of the modern, conscientious entrepreneur.

Shilpa is one of a number of strong-minded women in the issue. Vanessa Branson gives us an exclusive glimpse of the tiny island of Eilean Shona in the Hebrides, where she is unveiling a new artistic residency, while the actress Jessie Buckley explains how her career has worked in lockstep with initiatives to raise awareness around addiction services, prisoner rehabilitation and community care.

Would you chop off your hair and give it to someone else?

We’ve got some fun ideas for you as well. As an alternative to traditional festive gifting, Maria Fitzpatrick recommends subscription services that pay a percentage of the fee towards a host of different causes – from homelessness and literacy to loneliness and grief. And would you chop off your hair and give it to someone else? In one of my favourite stories in this issue, Sara Semic meets some of the hair heroes (or hair-oes) who have donated their long ponytails to the Little Princess Trust. The charity makes wigs for children and young adults who have experienced hair loss through illness, but just as touching here is the discovery of the many children who have let their hair be chopped for the cause. A special thank you to Mae Bagladi, the seven-year-old who not only volunteered to have her waist-length hair cut to just below her jaw line, but who was also prepared to let photographer Dan Burn-Forti capture the mane event. Losing one’s hair can be enormously traumatic, especially for young schoolchildren who just want to fit in with their peers. Thanks to volunteers such as Mae, the trust has been able to provide 11,000 wigs to young people since its foundation in 2006.

Of course, when it comes to how to give it, it helps if you have something to give. As part of the FT’s campaign to promote financial literacy, the musician and actress Courtney Love extols the benefits of doing maths. Her vantage may be a unique one, but there’s a wisdom in her words: “I don’t think that artists should be expected to be billionaires… I think artists should get what we call ‘right-sized’ about what to expect from their careers.” 

@jellison22

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