The Print Assembly
With the lockdown restrictions imposed, domestic abuse charity Refuge had reported a huge surge in the use of its online services and a substantial increase in calls to their helpline.
1.6 million women experienced domestic abuse last year alone, and self-isolation had the worrying potential to aggravate pre-existing abuse. At the height of the pandemic, the impact of Covid-19 on domestic abuse victims had reached a crucial point. We wanted to take action and do something positive, so we set out to raise funds for Refuge to help keep its life-saving services running during the crisis.
Setting ourselves a mammoth lockdown challenge – we organised a charity print sale in collaboration with the wider photographic community and rallied 102 artists to donate their work to the cause.
The Print Assembly was launched on May 3rd, with a 10-day print sale that exceeded all of our expectations. Beautiful images were generously donated by many world-renowned photographers and directors, including Nick Meek, Tim Flach, Julia Fullerton-Batten and Dougie Wallace.
We were overwhelmed with the show of support and generosity from across the creative industry. A tremendous amount of work (and 1000 prints sales later) we were thrilled that our initiative had been a huge success, especially during such difficult and uncertain times.
Sharing our story with the BJP, the AOP and across social media, we quickly gained support from the wider photographic community and further afield. With the opportunity to pitch to Chelsea FC and gain their support for The Print Assembly initiative, we were able to double the funds we raised! We’re so proud of the collaborative effort shown to our charity print sale, and we are overwhelmed by the generosity of all those who took part. Thank you again to everyone who supported us and purchased a print!
We were delighted to have closed the doors on what was an amazing lockdown project, raising much-needed funds for a vital cause – with a final donation of £90,000 for Refuge.
We’d like to say a really special thank you to our collaborative partners working across the project. Matt and Mark of MPrint, and Chris at Studio Thomson, thank you again for all of your hard work, late nights, and amazing support! x
