12 Days of Christmas rewritten to train and upskill women in Direct Provision

“In tough times, pulling together is such a positive action."

The 12 Days of Christmas have been rewritten to support women living in Direct Provision Dublin based social enterprise We Make Good has partnered with 12 Irish designers this festive season for a new campaign called ‘The 12 Days of Christmas Retold’. Designers including Fuschia MacAree, Ashwin Chacko and Holly Pereira have rewritten the 12 Days of Christmas song to promote a collection of decorations they have made as part of the drive - and to represent a more inclusive Ireland. All proceeds made from the campaign will towards training and upskilling women from refugee backgrounds at We Make Good’s Textile Studio. “In tough times, pulling together is such a positive action - collaboration is core to our business and to our success," says Joan Ellison, We Make Good's co-founder. "This project has been a really lovely joining of forces, from the talented designers who have given us their time and work, to the makers down in Cairde Enterprises in Limerick City, who work tirelessly to get our products off the screen and into our hands and finally, the women in our studio, who will benefit in very real terms from the sale of these decorations." “This project is helping us to achieve the vision it beautifully portrays in these 12 designers' work - a more equal and inclusive Ireland," adds co-founder Caroline Gardner. "Our social enterprise network is helping to bring the lessons society has learned from Covid19 into the future of business." The decorations offer a social commentary, each one telling the story of an Ireland the designer is hopeful will one day be possible. The pieces are all Irish made, plastic free, and entirely sustainable. “In the chaos of the world and the daily herald of bad news we can feel overwhelmed by our situation," says Ashwin Chacko, illustrator and designer. "Sometimes it is the small acts that have the largest impact. These acts of kindness have a ripple effect across our community, changing our society as a whole. "If we all followed the simple rule of “love your neighbour as yourself,” there would be massive ramifications on the whole human race. It teaches us to put others before ourselves, if even 10% of us could put this into practice we would already be on our way to a better world." The new decorations are launching today (December 2) and are available to buy online here or from We Make Good's shop on Fade Street, Dublin.