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Social economy bringing the best of the left and the right together

Lim Yin Foong Published on Mon, Jan 09, 2017 / 1:41 PM GMT+8

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It is the time of the year when the British high street is packed with shoppers in search of the perfect Christmas gift, and a shop in Norwich hopes to draw them in with an alternative offering — well-designed goods with unique stories and a meaningful ethos behind them.

The KindaShop is on a mission to make consumers more aware about consuming more consciously and compassionately, not just during this season but all year round. Every purchase from the shop delivers a social impact — kindness to people, planet and animals, explains its development manager Sarita Jepps, who adds that by stocking such products, KindaShop also promotes the social enterprises that produce them.

Funded by The Missing Kind charity, both KindaShop and its related venture, KindaEconomy, support social entrepreneurs and encourage more businesses with a compassionate social purpose. Through KindaEconomy, the charity runs a Social Enterprise School that recently graduated its first batch of students. In 2017, it will introduce a Social Enterprise Hub and drop-in surgeries to provide further support to those setting up their own social enterprises.