The Basket Room does not contract with weavers as employees, but works with them in different ways as suppliers, often through cooperatives and weaving groups.
We, therefore, pay for individual baskets rather than contracting the weavers on an hourly or daily rate.
However, we work hard to reach into our supply chain to ensure the weavers are being paid appropriately for the baskets they supply. We also work to periodically
research and monitor this. Our research to date shows that all weavers are paid at or in many cases significantly above the government minimum wage. We have also calculated that, on average, our weavers are paid between 20% to 40% of our wholesale price. By bringing baskets to the global market, we are able to pay weavers up to 50% more than what they would receive for the same baskets in the local wholesale markets.
We also work hard to provide support and training to the weavers, helping them adhere to quality standards and learn new designs that can open up new markets
for them beyond the Basket Room.

Minimum wage changes from country to country and increases in line with inflation.
At present (Jan 2023):

Kenya: KES7,544.66, per month approximately £50.20. The Kenya government also stipulates a daily minimum wage of 316.85 Ksh, approximately £2.10.
Uganda: UGX 130,000 per month, approximately, £29.
Rwanda: ZWL 8550 per month, approximately £22.
Ghana: The Ghananian government states a daily rate of H¢14.88, approximately £1.15. They make an assumption of 27 working days which brings the monthly
wage packet to approximately £31.05.

The Living Wage is defined by the Global Living Wage Coalition as:
“The remuneration received for a standard workweek by a worker in a particular
place sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and her or his
family. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing,
education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs including
provision for unexpected events”

The Agricultural Minimum Wage (per day) in Kenya is Ksh 316.25. To give this figure some context, a banana in Kenya 10 ksh and a 1kg bag of maize meal (the staple carbohydrate consumed in Kenya) is KES 96. This 1kg bag will provide approximately 3-4 meals.

Please note that The Basket Room does not contract with weavers as employees, but works with them in different ways as suppliers, often through cooperatives and weaving groups. We, therefore, pay for baskets rather than contracting the weavers on an hourly or daily rate.

However, we work hard to reach into our supply chain to ensure the weavers are being paid appropriately for the baskets they supply. We also work to periodically
research and monitor this. Our research to date shows that all weavers are paid at or in many cases significantly above the government minimum wage. We have also calculated that, on average, weavers are paid between 20% to 40% of our wholesale
price. By bringing baskets to the global market, we are able to pay weavers up to 50% more than what they would receive for the same baskets in the local wholesale markets.

The Basket Room does not contract with weavers as employees, but works with them in different ways as suppliers, often through cooperatives and weaving groups.
We, therefore, pay for baskets rather than contracting the weavers on an hourly or daily rate. However, we work hard to reach into our supply chain to ensure the weavers are being paid appropriately for the baskets they supply. Our research to date shows that on average, weavers are paid between 20% to 40% of our wholesale price. By bringing baskets to the global market, we are able to pay weavers up to 50% more than what they would receive for the same baskets in the local wholesale markets.

The Basket Room does not contract with weavers as employees, but works with them in different ways as suppliers, often through cooperatives and weaving groups.
We therefore pay for baskets rather than contracting the weavers on an hourly or daily rate.

However, we work hard to reach into our supply chain to ensure the weavers are being paid appropriately for the baskets they supply. We also work to periodically
research and monitor this. Our research to date shows that all weavers are paid at or in many cases significantly above the government minimum wage. We have calculated that, on average, weavers are paid between 20% to 40% of our wholesale price.

By bringing baskets to the global market, we are able to pay weavers up to 50% more than what they would receive for the same baskets in the local wholesale
markets. We also work hard to provide support and training to the weavers, helping them adhere to quality standards and learn new designs that can open up new
markets for them beyond the Basket Room.

Most weavers have very limited education. When conducting surveys in 2022 it came
to light that 18% only reached pre-primary or received no education at all; 61% received primary education, 18% reached secondary education, and only 2% went to college. There are very limited employment opportunities in most of the countries in which we operate, and a young population entering the labour market, often with
higher levels of education than our . Due to this market demographic, in reality, the weavers would likely only obtain jobs as casual labourers, being paid the Agricultural
Minimum Wage. These wages are as follows:

Kenya: KES7,544.66, per month approximately £50.20. The Kenya government also stipulate a daily minimum wage of 316.85 Ksh, approximately £2.10.

Uganda: UGX 130,000 per month, approximately, £29.
Rwanda: ZWL 8550 per month, approximately £22.

Ghana: The Ghananian government states a daily rate of H¢14.88, approximately £1.15.

They make an assumption of 27 working days which brings the monthly wage packet to approximately £31.05.

Whilst we do not employ weavers directly, our research to date shows that all weavers are paid at or in many cases significantly above the government minimum wage. Therefore, wages from weaving are the same or higher than alternatives. It is also important to note that most weavers are subsistence farmers so weaving
income is supplementary income rather than a “wage” as such.

When hiring freelance employees e.g. (photographers, drivers) in Kenya we always pay at least Living Wage for their services. For our more regular consultants, we pay
close to four times the Kenyan Living Wage.

We pay all our staff in the UK the Real Living Wage (or above) other than our packers who are on the UK Minimum Wage.

We do not have an official scheme but we always try to help where possible. We often supply equipment to weaver groups e.g. dying units, tape measures, hand
washing stations (during Covid) and smartphones to support them with their communication to us. We are considering options for giving back profits in future.

We recently reviewed the UN Sustainable Development Goals against our value chain and we believe that we are contributing to the following SDG Goals:

SDG 1: No Poverty: We support rural women across Africa who often sit below the Poverty Line. Additional income from our baskets supports these women and their families, particularly when, due to climate change, it is becoming increasingly hard to live a subsistence lifestyle.

SDG 2: Zero Hunger: In line with SDG 1, supplementary income from weaving is supporting rural families and ensuring that they have sufficient income to feed their
families.

SDG 5: Gender Equality: In many rural locations, this is the first time that female weavers have had access to their own money, providing financial independence and empowerment. Furthermore, many of these weaver groups also work as self-help groups in which women come together to talk about the challenges they face and
often lend money to one another. The groups provide a social safety net where government support is limited. As a company X% out of our full-time employees are women.

SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy: Our baskets are made by hand requiring very limited energy input. The only time we use electricity is for the sewing machines used to attach our buckles. 99% of our stock is shipped by sea freight to ensure we are not creating unnecessary carbon emissions.

SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth: Weavers are able to take their work home with them which enables them to weave whilst also being caregivers. Women weave
whilst doing the school run, tending to their livestock or overseeing homework. We ensure that we spread orders out across the year so that weavers never feel that they
are unable to take on work due to time constraints.

SDG 10: Responsible Consumption & Production: The whole ethos of The Basket Room is slow fashion. We work with long production cycles - only two order windows
per year with long lead times and eco-friendly logistics. We want our baskets to have a positive impact, be timeless in style and remain in homes for years to come. We will
always stay true to our slow-fashion philosophy.

SDG 15. Life on Land: We always try to use natural materials that are local to the region and can easily be regrown. We try to avoid using fabrics such as polyester,
which is highly energy intensive and one of the primary sources of microplastics in water systems and oceans. The materials we use to make our unique baskets require
less water, no use of pesticides and fertilizers and are able to grow under harsh weather conditions. Click here to learn more about the sustainability of our materials.

Whilst weavers are not employed directly by The Basket Room, we have close working relationships with all weaving groups and visit regularly. Women are able to take weaving home and are not working within a factory. Often women decide to weave together but this is never in factory conditions; it is normally within their community buildings or out in open space under the shade of a tree. Women can decide how many pieces they want to weave and we spread the orders out so weavers are never pressured to work long hours to complete their work.

In terms of pay, we conducted extensive research with a third party consultant in 2022 to establish wages. Whilst it is a challenge to calculate the exact “per hour” wage as women weave at different speeds and often weave whilst conducting other chores (e.g. walking to collect their children from home or tending to their cattle) we have established that, per hour, on average, weavers are paid at or in many cases significantly above the government minimum wage for their weaving. For some groups, they are even earning Living Wage for their weaving. This is normally when
they are growing the sisal themselves so the groups are not having to buy-in raw materials. We want to focus on growing projects over the coming months to see if we can get more weavers growing raw materials in their homesteads.

No, we do not have a Fairtrade Certificate. Instead, we weave (excuse the pun!) an ethical approach into our entire operations, from the materials we use to the groups we work with. We have created strong relationships with all our suppliers and regularly visit to ensure we are up to date with their setups and understand if any
challenges are being faced. We also employed a third-party sustainability consultant
in 2022 to conduct a full review of our supply chain. Please learn more about how we support our weavers here.

Weaving is mostly carried out by older women in the communities - to prove that no child labour is used in the making of our baskets, we are in the process of asking all of our suppliers to sign an Agreement stipulating that no child is involved in weaving The Basket Room products.

Yes, we conducted our first carbon footprint in 2022 on our 2021 data looking at scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. We are committed to taking responsibility for our carbon
impact and have decided to offset our entire carbon footprint (from production up to dispatch). Our carbon credits will be supporting the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor
REDD+ Project, based in Voi, Kenya. Learn more about our carbon footprint here.

Yes we have strong working relationships with most of the weaving groups from which we source. One of our two co-founders is based in Kenya to ensure we have visibility on the ground. She, or one of the Kenyan members of staff, visits the various groups every few months. As well as visiting, and for those weaving groups based in other countries - we have regular communication with group leaders through phone calls and Whatsapp.

In 2022 we designed a consent form which, for any photo we take, we ask for consent to use. As a rule, the weavers are positive about having photos taken and their story told but we always want to make sure they are totally aware of the photo use and are comfortable with this.

Depending on the range of baskets, we use two different dyeing techniques. For our natural ranges, our weavers use the traditional dyeing methods passed down from
generation to generation. Browns, Oranges, Reds and Greys are created using a variety of locally found natural materials such as leaves, tree bark, roots, leaves,
charcoal and soot.

Modern dyes are used when weavers look to create our more colourful options. In the majority of cases, these are AZO-free dyes produced by one of the world's most highly respected dye manufacturers based in South Korea. These dyes do not
contain any toxic compounds, ensuring no harmful chemicals are released into the environment during production.

We also teach the weavers how to reuse the water by dying each colour in batches and conducting production planning – it is better to dye all the turquoise needed for
an order in one go rather than three weeks in a row. This enables dye water to be used up to three times before it is poured away.

After the water is used for the dying process it is collected and placed in designated pits. We also train the weavers how to reuse the water by dying each colour in batches and conducting production planning. This helps minimize the amount of
wastewater produced.

Our weavers use natural dyes and modern dyes. The natural dyes are created using a variety of locally found natural materials such as leaves, tree bark, roots, leaves,
charcoal and soot. The modern dyes used by our weavers are, wherever possible, AZO-free and produced by one of the world's most highly respected dye
manufacturers based in South Korea. These dyes do not contain any toxic compounds, ensuring no harmful chemicals are released into the environment during production. Learn more about our dyes here.

All the materials we use are grown with no pesticides or fertilisers. They require limited amounts of water to grow and do not use any genetically modified seeds to
grow materials. Learn more about our materials and how they are grown here.

Our principal material is sisal which, in general, is grown on the edge of homesteads as a form of fencing. Sisal grows very well in rocky sections of farmland which would
otherwise be unutilised and exposed to soil erosion. In Kenya where sisal is grown on a commercial scale, it tends to be in parts of the country that are particularly dry and arid (sisal is brilliant at growing without much water) which would once have been
unproductive land, so even in this context, limited deforestation would have occurred.

One of the principal missions of The Basket Room is to try and source locally and to use natural materials that grow well and in abundance within the region. Our banana fibre, for example, is actually utilising a waste product - over a billion tonnes of banana plant stems are wasted each year due to the global demand for the fruit but limited demand for the plant.

We recently published our first Sustainability Report, which provides our customers
and stakeholders with a raft of information on our supply chain and processes.
Please click here to read more about our carbon footprint, our raw materials and our
logistics.

Our leather in Kenya (where we produce the majority of our bags) is all sourced from local tanneries, which, in turn, source their skin from local abattoirs. All our leather is a by-product rather than being reared for the skin and our Kenyan leather is also REACH compliant. The only leather that is not REACH compliant is our Ghananian
leather and we are working to gain better visibility on this.

We have committed that from 2024, the leather used for our Kenyan bags will only be dyed using vegetable tan rather than traditional tanning methods. Vegetable
tanning is a more environmentally friendly process, avoiding the risk of toxic wastewater hitting local water systems.

No, we do not treat our products with chemicals. The only “chemical” used on our baskets are the dyes used to make them the wonderful colours they are. Wherever
possible we try to only use natural dyes (e.g. bark) or AZO-free dyes. Learn more about our dyes here.

This is not conducted on an industrial scale. Soot is taken from the open fires on which these women cook their food and placed in a mixing cauldron along with hot
water (between 40 litres and 180 litres). When conducting focus group questionnaires in 2022, we established that close to 60% of our women cook using this method. In an ideal world, weavers would not be using the cooking method, but
the reality is, electricity does not reach most of these groups and gas alternatives are often unaffordable. This dying process has been used for generations and we do not
feel it is our place to change these cultural practices. We are buying a product from weavers that is steeped in history and tradition.

However, we are always keen to connect our weavers to NGOs and social enterprises in the region bringing affordable clean energy alternatives to the market. For
example in early 2020 we linked one of our principal weaving groups to an enterprise called Amiran Kenya which designs home biogas systems enabling households,
farms and businesses to convert organic waste to clean renewable energy.

Covid-19 made linking our weavers to opportunities a challenge as there was very minimal movement permitted but we are hoping as the world fully opens back up we can start working in this space again.

We wrap our baskets in recycled tissue paper and then pack them in reused cardboard boxes. When sealing boxes we use craft tape rather than sellotape. Our
tags are made from recycled cards and printed with alcohol-free vegetable oil-based inks. We have also moved away from plastic tags, using cotton ties instead.

We do use plastic sacks for transporting our baskets in containers from Kenya and
Ghana, to keep them protected and dry during transit. The majority of these bags are pre-used, for example, bags that have transported bulk commodities such as rice and sugar to Kenya and Ghana. Once these bags reach the UK in our containers, we then use these a second time for sending out laundry baskets to our customers. The remaining bags that we are left with we recycle locally.