Celeb spotting and Doing it Right…

Last week, courtesy of the lovely people at Ecover, I had my first ever experience of an Award’s ceremony!

The Observer Ethical Awards no less.

So after frantically organising childcare, someone to go with (thankyou Emma!), and something to wear (more on this to come…) this little Make Do and Mender set off for London…

And then she missed the train.

Yes, I really did.

But we managed to get on the next one, and all for a mere £30 extra…. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Anyway. We made it up to London with no further misadventures, and even found our way to the very impressive One Marylebone

Photo source: One Marylebone

and were ushered inside to hobnob with the Great and the Good. I got to stand about a foot away from the very lovely Ben Fogle in some very red trousers whilst I was getting a drink 🙂 Lenny Henry was there to accept his Lifetime Achievement award for all his work with Comic Relief, but he had cunningly disguised himself with a beard and some glasses, so I would never have recognised him. AND Colin Firth was there with his lovely wife Livia, Queen of the Green carpet.
I have no pictures to confirm that I was actually ever in the same room as all these people, I was far too self-conscious to be snapping away-blogging fail-sorry.

But as the Awards started, it became clear that these were no typical celebrity-centric awards, they were very much about recognising and celebrating the work that is being done, every day, by (extra)ordinary people. People who do what they do, because they feel it is the right thing, the only thing to do. That good business really can be Good business. And that we are all responsible for our own small piece of this wonderful planet, and that we should all be doing what we can to make it a better, fairer place to live.

It was hugely inspiring and heart warming to know that there really are so many people out there not only trying to make the world a better place, but actually doing it too.

So, from me, in true Awards style…a huge thankyou to everyone involved:
to the fabulous Lucy Siegle for recognising the need to acknowledge and award those campaigning for a better world 8 years ago, and doing it so brilliantly ever since;
to Ecover for very kindly giving me the tickets and supporting the Awards;
and most importantly, to each and every one of the Awards winners, (not forgetting the brilliant people on the Short-lists) for showing us all that it can be done. It is possible to live a life, run a business, make a difference, just by caring about doing it right.

The full list of Awards and winners is here-go and have a look, and be inspired.

You don’t have to be a celebrity or a multi-millionaire to make a difference. You just have to care.