The Body Shop: Play for Peace
Customers will be able to help refugee children this Christmas by buying seasonal gifts from The Body Shop as part of its Play for Peace Campaign, in partnership with peace building NGO International Alert. Every gift from The Body Shop’s seasonal gift collections that a customer purchases throughout the Christmas season will help refugee children affected by war in Syria heal through play.
International Alert’s Peace Play project – which is implemented with the organisation Basmeh and Zeitooneh – supports refugee children and uses recreational and creative activities to help these children deal with trauma and to understand their experiences of conflict.
Each gift purchased from The Body Shop’s seasonal gift collections will help support the project for one year in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, with the therapeutic activities taking place in a safe-haven community centre. Syrian refugee children are living in very difficult conditions, and have little access to treatment for the trauma they experienced during war and displacement. International Alert’s project aims to respond to this situation, and to provide recreational and creative activities to refugee children.
Harriet Lamb, CEO of International Alert said: “Some young Syrians struggle to remember a time before violence and loss, before they had to flee their homes and become refugees. We provide a safe space for them to play, and be children again. This Christmas we are thrilled to be partnering with The Body Shop. Every gift you buy from their seasonal gift collections will help bring a smile to a Syrian child’s face. What a great way to share the spirit of Christmas.”
Annie Chan, General Manager at The Body Shop Australia said: “The Body Shop has a proud history of tackling global issues and getting customers to help make a difference. This Christmas we are excited to team up with Ajak Deng to help communicate our support of International Alert with Australian customers. Ajak is a passionate refugee advocate and her personal experience brings a rich perspective to the importance of the cause. Together with Ajak, we can get across a simple but powerful message; that every refugee child deserves the right to just be a child”.
Ajak Deng, Sudanese refugee now international fashion model said: “Being a refugee myself, I am proud to be partnering with The Body Shop Australia for the ‘Play for Peace’ project and to be able to share my own story so people can better understand the true plight of refugees. I want to use my own experience to educate others about a very real issue that - in one way or another – really does affect all of us.”
The Body Shop is aiming to donate £250,000 this Christmas period.
