20 Amazing Years

It is wild enough to write a year in review... but what about 20?

We collected our first fire-hose in 2005, and the adventure began slowly, but stubbornly. The hoses posed so many impractical problems and challenges that even belt making left us with claw like hands and definitely no idea that we would still be here, more than 300 tonnes later. 

Have their been lows? Absolutely. But nothing like the highs. Donating over £428,000.00, building the team, hosting hundreds of young people for work experience or apprenticeships, partnering with the Burberry Foundation, speaking all over the world, winning all kinds of awards, Meeting the Queen, restoring Tonge Mill, finding the farm, planting our vines... we have celebrated every kilo rescued and every pound that we donated. 

One thing I know is that you can't sustain anything for 20 years without love. Love isn't limited to each other, or fire-hose, or our team and stakeholders, the farm, every organism from the micro to the macro that makes it tick, or even the potential of a completely circular, regenerative and kind economy. Love has no limit. Love, optimism and sense of purpose have sustained Elvis & Kresse. You know that phrase, 'if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well'? I think for us the bigger question is to really make sure what you mean by 'worth doing'. Without the rescue, without the transformation, without the donation? There would be no business. There is no worth or value in a business if it isn't on a regenerative pathway.

I think about key decisions that we made, very early on, which have made us who we are. 

1. We started with the sole purpose of rescuing fire-hoses, of solving that problem.
2. We promised to donate 50% of our profits to The Fire Fighters Charity.
3. We set out to challenge everything about fashion, business, and manufacturing... everything that didn't make sense, that you know in your heart you couldn't defend to a young, idealistic teenager.
4. We promised to actually be creative, rather than destructive. 

Over the years we have unequivocally proven that:

1. Decommissioned fire-hose has value, leather scraps have value, and not just value as products, but value for society through the creation of great jobs and the redistribution of profit. 
2. You don't have to prioritise money to run a successful business. Ensuring the solid economics of your enterprise is a discipline, but it doesn't have to be your motivation, your goal, or how you define success. 
3. Kindness is not weakness.
4. There are no limits to how much good you can do.
5. Business does not have to be extractive or exploitative, those two methods just make it easier to make money while pulling the rug out from under future generations. 
6. Waste is a total failure of creativity.
   
7. Naivete is in the eye of the beholder (wink,wink).

And for the next 20? First things first, we are going to ask for help for the first time, but not in a traditional way. We are incredibly focussed on what we need to do and no matter how we look at it, we can't do it alone.

Plans? 

1. Building a winery, and start fermenting
2. Bring on the bees!
3. Establish a market garden
4. Make 100% regenerative products from farm grown produce - everything from fruit preserves to garlic, willow to perfume to... who knows! 
5. Continue our R&D into new wastes, and new materials and products. 
6. Run a full program of events at the farm - educational, inspirational and fun.

We could raise money more conventionally, but we need actual hands on help, supporters and collaborators... effectively the Farm needs Friends. We think we have a good model for this, so if you are keen to learn more, stay tuned or drop Kresse an email, kresse@elvisandkresse.com

There will be lots of 20 year updates, news and events too.

Happy 2025 everyone!

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