As a member of the British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) we at Myakka take an ethical stance to doing business. When our directors Georgie Hopkins and Simon Whitehead went to India back in February they set the ball rolling on a number of joint local community projects. One of these projects has been successfully completed this week.
SKSN School in Jodhpur, northern India is a charitable school which provides care and education to around 500 physically challenged children. The children are returning to school this week to start the new school year and they are in for a big surprise. In collaboration with our main furniture supplier, Myakka has delivered 70 new desks and benches to seat 140 students aged 4-8 years. Our supplier has kindly covered the cost of production and as part of our continued support to the SKSN, Myakka have paid approximately £2150 to cover the cost of the materials.
Desks and Benches in Production – awaiting wooden surfaces
As with most charities, ongoing maintenance costs can be a real burden and because of this, the design brief was to create solid, hard wearing school furniture which is also very low maintenance. Each desk seats 2 children with a matching bench and has been designed with a scale appropriate for the younger students. The design of the benches and chairs means there is very little that can be broken or go wrong with them.
“They’re not as attractive as they could be from a design perspective, but they will last for a very long time”, commented Simon Whitehead, Director of Myakka. “For example, a light sanding and waxing of each desktop will return them to looking as good as new and this task can be carried out very inexpensively”.
The new desks and benches at SKSN School
The benches and tables were delivered in time for the start of the new school year and have been very well received by the children and their teachers. Georgie and Alexandra are heading out to India in October when they will progress the soft furnishings trade link with SKSN school which was set up at the start of the year.
