Coronavirus face masks that raise funds for charities
Howard Lake | 28 May 2020 | News
As face masks become more widely recommended or required in an attempt to reduce the further spread of coronavirus many initiatives have sprung up to produce them and to raise funds for charities through their sale.
Here are the charity face mask initiatives that we have come across so far. If we have missed yours, please add it in the comments below.
Not surprisingly lots of these masks and coverings have sold out, either temporarily or permanently. We have continued to add more examples as we come across them, with that latest additions at the bottom of this list.
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1. Ai Weiwei
Artist Ai Weiwei has produced 10,000 masks which are being sold on eBay to generate funds for Human Rights Watch, Refugees International and Médecins Sans Frontières.
The art work face masks will be sold for $50 (£40), $300 for a series of four, and $1,500 for a collection of 20. Each mask features an image of sunflower seeds, mythical beasts and a raised middle finger.
SEE ALSO: Face masks for GOSH and other masks and PPE for good causes (20 May 2020)
2. Acanthus Interiors and Trussell Trust
Acanthus Interiors has been making masks and offering up to two per person for a donation to Trussell Trust and/or Rowan Alba.
3. Playmobil UK
Playmobil has made its own mask for adults. Available online for £4.99 and £1 from each sold mask will be donated to a nominated charity that helps keyworkers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
4. Zalando UK and Humedica
Zalando is selling masks from £1, with profits going to international aid organisation Humedica.
5. The Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation
6. Florence Bridge and Fuel Our Frontline
Florence Bridge’s elegant face masks are £12, and 25% of sales is going to Fuel Our Frontline, which is delivering essential groceries to hospitals around the UK.
7. TRNSMT Festival and Masks for Scotland
TRNSMT Festival has launched a special edition Rainbow Heart charity mask for £9. All profits will go to Masks For Scotland.
8. #CommunityMasks4NHS and NHS Charities Together
Jane Horwood, Melissa Santiago-Val and other creatives in the Cambridge area, are making face masks using donated fabrics and materials to raise funds for NHS Charities Together. They are asking a suggested a donation of £4 for each mask, all of which goes straight to NHS Charities Together. So far on JustGiving they have raised almost £13,000.
There are more!
Simon Scriver asked which charities were selling face masks, and got a lot of answers.
9. Orchestra Toronto
10. Human Rights Campaign
12. Social Enterprise UK
Plenty of social enterprises in the UK are now manufacturing and selling face masks and PPE equipment.
13. Aideen Bodkin and three Irish charities
Designer Aideen Bodkin is designing and selling face masks in aid of Trocaire, the Irish Hospice Foundation and Marie Keating Foundation.
14. Sanctuary Mask Initiative
15. Hibbs Lupus Trust
16. Cincinnati Zoo
Animal-themed face masks are on sale from Cincinnati Zoo.
17. Katherine Hill and four charities
Handmade fashion designer Katherine Hill is donating half the proceeds from the sale of face masks to Dudley Mind, Acorns Hospice, Halas Homes and the Mary Stevens Hospice.
18. Carry the Future
Funds raised from the sales of masks by Carry the Future “will provide soap and other basic hygiene items to refugee families”.
In addition, for every mask purchased, online retailer Bonfire will send a mask to a healthcare provider in need of basic protection supplies.
19. TargetMargin Theater
TargetMargin Theatre turned making and donating face masks into a performative action across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Costume designers created the masks and theatre makers biked them across town to recipients.
20. We Make Good
Irish social enterprise We Make Good employs refugee women to make face masks: for every mask sold one is donated to people in Direct Provision (asylum seeker accommodation).
21. Beatson Cancer Charity
22. Whiteleys Retreat
23. Rokit Vintage and FareShare
100% of profits (£3.40) from the sale of each mask will be donated to Fareshare UK.
24. Universal Music Direct and Help Musicians UK and MusiCares
Universal Music Direct is working with musicians and artists to sell branded face masks, with 100% of net proceeds being donated to Help Musicians UK and MusiCares (USA). There is a minimum donation of £8/€8/$8 per product sold. The site makes clear that these “cloth face coverings are for personal use and are not PPE”.
25. Amnesty Netherlands
26. Lume (sold out)
Some designs have proved so popular that they have sold out quickly.
27. ArmedAngels for Medicins Sans Frontieres
ArmedAngels is donating $2 per mask sold to MSF/Doctors without Borders. They are trying to raise €1 million from mask sales!
28. Adidas and Save the Children
Adidas in Europe is selling a pack of three face masks for £12.95 and donating £2 from the sale of each pack to Save The Children’s Global Coronavirus Response Fund.
29. Joshua and Hannah Hardy and GOSH
Siblings Joshua and Hannah Hardy are fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity by making and selling 100% Cotton washable and reusable universal masks. All profits are being donated to the charity.
With their A-levels and GCSEs cancelled due to coronavirus and lockdown, they focused on a fundraising idea for GOSH.
The masks are available in single packs (£7.99) or packs of four (£30.36) with free nationwide delivery.
From the age of eight, Josh relied on GOSH’s life saving treatment. GOSH saved his life and gave him and his family hope. He and Hannah are putting their belief in #giveandget into action in this initiative.
30. For Life Thailand
31. Community Mask Trees
A Community Mask Tree is a not-for-profit initiative to offer cloth face coverings to a local community.
‘Trees’ take many forms – e.g. real trees, hat stands, garden fence, or community notice board. They are often located in front gardens, outside local shops or central community locations. They are self-funding as many accept donations to cover the cost of materials, but they are also run as not for profit ventures. Excess donations are used for local community projects or donated to charity.
The Community Mask Trees Facebook group has been set up to inspire and support others to set up their local mask tree.
There is a local group running one in Colchester, Essex, where UK Fundraising is based.
32. NotJust Clothing and Masks for NHS Heroes
NotJustClothing‘s face masks are reusable and are made with zero-waste. £5 or 50% of the sale of each is donated to the Masks for NHS Heroes campaign which is purchasing essential PPE for frontline workers.
Update: by 23 July they had raised £5,000 for NHS Heroes.
33. WWF and panda-print face masks
WWF UK is selling a range of non-medical face masks made from 100% sustainable, organic cotton, designed with their panda print.
Available in sizes for both adults and children, “the masks fit snugly while remaining comfortable and breathable”. And unlike single-use masks, they are reusable and machine washable at 60C. They are available from the WWF Shop at £9.99, and “100% of the profits go to WWF-UK, to help fund the vital conservation work on the ground around the world”.
34. The Vagina Museum
The Vagina Museum is selling four designs of face mask at £10, although they have currently sold out of all of them.
“Just because you are covering your face doesn’t mean you have to cover your love of vulva!” they say.
35. Artists Open Houses
Brighton-based Artists Open Houses is inviting artists and makers’ to design and sell face masks to the public. Some of the designers are making a donation to charities from each sale, with beneficiaries including Heart to Heart International, Safaplace and NHS Charities Together.
36. Slanj Kilts and Shelter Scotland
As worn by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, the Slanj Kilts woollen face mask is being sold with a donation to Shelter Scotland.
37. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital
All profits from the sales of these rainbow-decorated face masks will go towards the hospital’s COVID-19 Appeal to help support NHS staff across the trust to continue their work at Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity and Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.
Each mask features the motto ‘Storms don’t last forever’.
38. The Theatre Support Fund
A partnership between the Theatre Support Fund and 16 West End shows in London – & Juliet, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Hamilton, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Matilda the Musical, Six the Musical, Tina, The Tina Turner Musical, The Book of Mormon, The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.
Profits are being split between Acting for Others, the Fleabag Support Fund and the NHS COVID-19 Urgent Appeal. The reuseable face covering is the latest addition to the available merchandise, which also includes t-shirts, a notebook, mug, badge and tote bag.
39. Charity Masks in aid of Clothe & Feed
Charity Masks is a trading initiative from the North East England-based charity Clothe & Feed. Masks cost £5 and profits are generated for the charity.
Masks are available in large, medium and child sizes. Launched on 24 July, the day on which face coverings became a legal requirement in England to enter a shop and other spaces, 12 masks were sold online in the first hour.
40. Keith Lemon and Variety, the Children’s Charity
Comedian and presenter Keith Lemon is supporting Variety, the Children’s Charity and its ‘I Love Variety’ face mask campaign. Variety’s branded face masks are being sold alongs his own, very personalised mask – which features the lower half of his face!
The masks, which are available for £12.49 and come in a range of sizes, will be modelled by a host of celebrities who are supporting the campaign.
Lemon said: “You might not know I’m wearing my ‘I Love Variety’ mask because it has my actual face printed on it, so it looks like I’m not wearing a mask, but I am, and I’m wearing it with pride. Can’t wait to see everyone else with my face! Like one big Lemon family! A really big family where we all look handsome!”
The masks are manufactured and sold by Huddersfield Textiles/Masks UK. £5 from the sale of each Variety, the Children’s Charity and Keith Lemon mask is donated to the charity.
41. Farplace Animal Rescue
Farplace’s mask costs £5.
42. John Lewis and NHS Charities Together
The John Lewis Partnership is selling packs of three face masks, available in black, grey and blue with profits from sales being donated to NHS Charities Together. They washable and reusable masks come in an adult and children’s size and are priced at £10 per pack.
43: Paul Hodges Trust
More on charity face masks
- Face masks for GOSH and other masks and PPE for good causes (20 May 2020)
- Charity face masks for Christmas ( 25 November 2020)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.