Our corporate partners are vital in helping us continue to offer the support we do to every member of our fire services community – and Elvis & Kresse has been one of those valued partners for 17 years.
Now, the sustainable luxury accessory manufacturer has donated a huge £63,727.12 to us in the last 2021/22 financial year, an incredible boost and one that will make such a huge difference to the lives of our beneficiaries.
Elvis & Kresse transforms discarded hoses into handbags, wallets, belts and more – with 50% of the profits from its Fire Hose Collection coming directly to us.
It first began as the brainchild of co-founder and director Kresse Wesling in 2005, following a chance encounter with London Fire Brigade. Speaking in our Shout!Podcast, she recalled falling instantly in love with its decommissioned fire hose and vowed to not only rescue it, but donate 50% of whatever she made to the fire service.
Elvis & Kresse’s stunning handbags and wallets have since captured the attention of high-end, designer names and as the company has grown, so have its incredible donations to us – so much so, it’s donated a staggering £272,559.45 in total to us over the years.
“Firefighters are there when we need them,” says Kresse. “When they get a call, they drop everything, suit up, and jump in the truck. They run toward danger. When we started Elvis & Kresse our first goal was to rescue London’s decommissioned fire-hose. When we promised to donate half of our profits to The Fire Fighters Charity we had no idea where this promise would take us, and what an impact it would have.
“Unwittingly, but overwhelmingly willingly we have created this truly virtuous circle. Firefighters rescue us, we rescue the fire-hose, and the proceeds help to rescue firefighters and their families in their time of need.”
Kresse and our Community Fundraiser, Louise Furneaux, celebrated the fantastic donation at a charity ball in aid of us, hosted by Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s Nikki Haxton-Jones.
Elvis & Kresse is currently working on a huge redevelopment project on their new home and HQ, with the ultimate goal to be ‘Net Regenerative’ by 2030. Read more about that here.
Kresse said of the move: “We have just moved into our new workshop in Kent, we built it at the heart of New Barns Farm from straw bales, it is a passive building that will run on renewables! We would love to welcome you to this new site and have a host of events and tours planned so please do sign up to our newsletter and stay in touch: support@elvisandkresse.com.”
A huge thank you to Elvis & Kresse for these years of incredible support. You can see the Fire Hose collection here.
