At Georg Jensen Damask, we have a fundamental desire to make a difference where we can. With a starting point in our world of textiles, we have therefore taken part in a number of significant donation projects over the years – particularly those with a focus on children.
For the next few years we have fully committed ourselves to a special donation collaboration with the World Childhood Foundation, which works with vulnerable and exploited children throughout the world.
Read more about the projects below.
The World Childhood Foundation
H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden founded the World Childhood Foundation in 1999, in co-operation with 14 family foundations, private individuals and companies, all of whom wanted to protect children's rights to a safe and secure childhood. Today, H.M. Queen Silvia is honorary chair of the board and continues her commitment to the work of preventing child abuse.
In 2019, the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the World Childhood Foundation marked the launch of H.M. Queen Silvia’s own personal Easter tablecloth. The tablecloth has a very special significance to the Swedish royal family, and was originally woven along with two other tablecloths as a gift for H.M. Queen Silvia’s sixtieth birthday. One tablecloth was red, for Christmas, one was yellow, for Easter, and one was a classic white tablecloth for all seasons and occasions. All the tablecloths are adorned with the Queen’s monogram, and the Queen herself was involved in the creation of the elegant design in collaboration with the Danish designer Diana Holstein.
To support the World Childhood Foundation, H.M. Queen Silvia decided to allow the design of her personal Easter tablecloth to be put into production for the benefit of the Foundation. The tablecloth is therefore exclusively woven to support the Foundation’s work in preventing child abuse. For each tablecloth sold, EUR 100 will be donated toward the work of the World Childhood Foundation.
When you purchase Queen Silvia’s Easter Tablecloth, you will also receive a Childhood bracelet, worth EUR 10, to say thank you and as a symbol of support of vulnerable children and the organisation. The bracelet is crafted from ten beads of different colours, each symbolising an article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – a reminder that every child has the right to a safe and secure childhood.
Handloom Development Programme
Quality craftsmanship is the foundation of every product in our collection. For this reason, it is important for us to help to support the art of weaving so we can help keep the craft alive. Since 2013, Georg Jensen Damask has therefore collaborated with a small Indian family-run weaving mill in Karur on multiple designs – most recently, the handwoven PUK napkins.
Our collaboration with the small weaving mill is based on a shared passion for the art of weaving and for handwoven textiles, which are a thing of the past in many places – including in India. Hand weaving is a difficult discipline, and few people have full mastery of the technique. In Denmark, as in India, the most frequently used technique is machine weaving, which does not require the same amount of time and skill. The family-run weaving mill therefore offers a unique kind of craftsmanship with roots in an ancient tradition.
Every time you buy handwoven PUK napkins, we continue to support the training of weavers at the little weaving mill in Karur. We also pay for the weavers’ health and life insurance in order to help keep the weaving mill going and preserve the valuable craftsmanship that is at the heart of all textile production.
The World Scout Foundation
The World Scout Foundation is a support organisation for the world’s largest youth organisation – the World Organisation of the Scout Movement. The organisation is based on global voluntary engagement, and the honorary president, H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, has for many years been deeply involved in the activities of the scout movement. On the occasion of the King’s sixtieth birthday in 2006, and the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement in 2007, the World Scout Foundation created a custom-designed damask tablecloth with Georg Jensen Damask as their partner and producer.
H.M. Queen Silvia, who shares the King’s deep involvement in the scout movement, contributed to the design of the damask tablecloth along with the Danish textile designer Diana Holstein.
The damask tablecloth was sold internationally through the World Scout Foundation, selected partners and by Georg Jensen Damask. As a result of the collaboration, Georg Jensen Damask raised more than €1 million for the future activities of the scout movement.