#BackTheManor, Bring Meaning to Mother’s Day on 14th March
Traditions for Mother’s day in each country differ but the message is the same it is a time to pay homage to the central importance of women to their families and communities. Celebrations such as the Nepalese Mata Tirtha Aunsi “Mother Pilgrimage New Moon” go back thousands of years. In the West the idea was rebirthed by anti-war activist Julia Ward Howe, better known for writing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” she promoted a Mothers’ Peace Day beginning in 1872. For Howe Mother’s Day was a way to promote global unity after the horrors of the American Civil War and Europe’s Franco-Prussian War.
More than half of the businesses in membership of the Guild are owned or led by women. Many of them started their businesses because they need more flexibility around working hours so they can take care of their children.
For those lucky enough to afford money on their mothers, sisters or daughters this Mother’s Day, a purchase from a small local business is one way to bring meaning back to an idea hijacked by global corporations.
In a recent article from The Guardian, it’s been revealed that “nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs felt their business might not survive the pressures of Covid-19”. Spending with local small business may seem inconsequential but if we all make the choice to support our neighbours by shopping with them online it makes a big difference. During the worst recession on record, every penny counts.
There is a huge amount of unseen and undervalued community infrastructure around small businesses. When restrictions are lifted they will bring life into our streets again making them safer and friendlier places to be by generating connectivity between individuals and different groups through physically bringing the community back together as generators of local economic, social and cultural activity for long-term economic resilience.
Providing 61% of all employment the vast majority of which is taken up by local people, we all need our neighbourhood businesses to survive for the sustainable recovery of our local and national economies.
So this Mother’s Day #BackTheManor, we can all do our bit for the neighbourhood. We’ve created a gift guide for you to make this easy. Below is a carefully selected assortment of gifts from the new East End Trades Guild Store. Forget Amazon, everything you need is right on your doorstep.
Simply click on the headings of each product to buy.
Learn to knit from Wild and Woolly £38
A new hobby is a beautiful gift, knitting is a mindful activity so this could be the perfect meditative salve for mental health. There is also a friendly knitting community with groups all over the country.
This kit has everything you need to get going and make your very first scarf complete with a beautifully illustrated and explained How-to-Knit booklet by our very own Renee Callahan, AKA East London Knit 2 skeins of soft undyed merino and a pair of birchwood knitting needles, means you’ll be on your way to wrapping up in a lovely hand-knit scarf before you know it.
Seedball – Italian Herb Kitchen Grow Kit from the Brokedown Palace £18
Seedball is a non-profit company on a mission to help increase the abundance of British wildflowers and wildlife that depend upon them. They believe that if we can all better use the space we have available to us (whether a back garden, balcony, window box or little patio) we can together have a hugely beneficial impact on our local environment.
These peat-free coir organic herb seeds come in an FSC-certified cardboard box with re-usable recycled aluminium containers and cork toppers. They are ideal for kitchen windowsills and come with full instructions on the box. Includes seeds for:
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) – Aromatic annual or biennial with bright green, elliptic leaves and small, tubular white or pink-tinged flowers.
Sweet Marjoram (Origanum majorana) – Leaves and flowering sprigs are popular in Greek and Italian meat dishes, soups, stuffings, tomato sauces and pasta, where they are best used towards the end of the cooking process.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – Aromatic biennials with broad, pinnate to 3-pinnate leaves and compound umbels of small white or pale green flowers.
Tide Chart Love Swimsuit from Usual Objections £90
Show your mum some swim love! Just in time for easing of lockdown restrictions. Inspired by a love for tide charts, tidal current charts, ocean topography and general sciencey graphy stuff. Ethically made out of sustainable fabric and engineered to offer maximum comfort for pool and open water swims. Available in sizes 8-16.
DEVINE FEMININE GIFT SET FROM ANDROMEDA ALCHEMY £25.00
Luxurious hand made Oil Mix for skin and hair care, attuned to Divine Feminine frequencies. Plus three of their delicious chocolate bars crafted with unroasted cacao and made with organic ingredients.
Ladies City Slim Umbrella – Pink, from James Ince Umbrellas 1805 £79
What a treat! A lovely ladies city slim umbrella made in locally in East London.
Perfect for going out and about in style. It protects from both the sun and the rain with its water-resistant and UV blocking canopy.
Or if you are looking for something smaller which fits in a bag, try our one hand-finished small folding umbrellas with matching case available in a lovely gift box. More details on the East End Store.
Pylon Ceramics Set of 3 herb labels £12 
The Mystery Plant Box Spring Edition from Living Windows £40
Living Windows has given their best selling Mystery Plant Box a little makeover just in time for Mothers Day. In this seasonal update to one of our most popular products, you’ll find everything you could want for your Spring Window Box, including Spring favourites such as Iris and Narcissus. Inside, you’ll find everything that you need to have your Window Box looking beautiful for the Spring season – but as ever, what’s inside is a surprise. Simply choose SUNNY or SHADY, tell us if it’s for a garden or window box and we will supply you with seven different outdoor plants delivered to your door. Including perennials, shrubs and seasonal bedding. Order yours NOW and find out more!
Love Toile de Jouy Cushions from Urban Upholstery £55
The cushions are made with a beautiful blue French Toile de Jouy. The design has a white background and it is printed with a fabulously detailed and meticulously drawn, traditional pastoral scene, featuring (in particular) couples and animals, surrounded by a countryside backdrop made up of buildings, trees, and plants. The Blue Toile has been matched with a gorgeous washed linen, slub-woven to create a fantastic raked texture similar to vintage denim. Finished with piping, made with blue velvet fabric. Our cushions are made with high-quality upholstery fabrics and design prints, optimising
any leftover from the upholstery process of furniture.