Don’t work for free, but try to put something back

I read ‘Creativity with a cause’ (Design Business, DW 23 September) with great interest. It’s refreshing to know some consultancies have a giving spirit amid the present-day ‘thinking of self and nobody else’.

Rather than looking inwardly at what we can gain from our growing profits, isn’t it about time we all started to look outwards?

I am not suggesting that, as an industry, we should be giving away all profits to help the needy, however, I believe that any profit-making organisation has an obligation to put something back into the world that it has gained from.

Small things, like choosing a charity close to home and helping it develop more of a corporate edge create a lot more impact in their successes than the amount of time spent in our studios.

And just because it’s free it doesn’t mean that it’s lower rate. Unless you’ve lost your passion in design, anything you touch should still have your mark on it, free or otherwise.

Even if your consultancy is busy in the fee-paying world and can’t give away free time it doesn’t mean that you can’t give. Sponsoring a Third World child for every member of staff or department can be a great way of giving back to people in need. At a cost of £18 per month per child it’s not exactly bank-breaking stuff, but when you see the letters coming in from the children themselves you see it makes a difference.

Giving to a child in need and putting a smile on that face has to be better than looking at the extra bit of profit at the end of the year.

Jane Hall

Managing director

Teviot

Edinburgh EH1 3PX