Jack Monroe’s ‘Dead People Can’t Riot’ & ‘This Is An Eton Mess’ Merchandise Raises £11,369 For UK Food Banks

In February, and almost entirely by accident, I designed and sold some t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags etc with varying sassy political slogans on them, aiming to fundraise a little much-needed cash for food banks up and down the country. Being fairly new to this, and a little overenthusiastic and naive, when some of my followers suggested splitting the proceeds with smaller charities, I agreed. Oh boy, the headache that that caused in the end, and the maths, and the report reconciliations and checking and rechecking my homework… I learned a lot in this process, chiefly about running headfirst into wild – if well meant – ideas without talking them through with an expert first, but also about the lengths that some people will go to to try to discredit and smear my work. No good deed goes unpunished, and all of that.

But the majority of human beings are good and decent people, and with that in mind, I’m very pleased to be able to inform those of you who supported this ad-hoc fundraiser, that as promised, all of the profits from each and every sale have been donated to food banks; both in a national network, and the small independent Foodbank that I myself used for six months, around ten years ago now. These funds will allow these food banks to continue their vital and often lifesaving work supporting people who are in need of an emergency food supply all over the UK, and for that, I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of all of you who supported this endeavour – and I’ve loved seeing all the photos of you sporting your merchandise out there in the wild world, often sparking conversations about what they mean, and what that means for the state of Britain today.

The first round of sales profits went to The Trussell Trust, a charity I have a long standing relationship with as a supporter and fundraiser. They received £11,082.39 in March 2022, I posted public proof of that donation on Twitter, here, and they publicly acknowledged it. Here it is again, in case anyone missed it at the time:

Some merchandise was left up for sale on my Teemill website (an accidental oversight by me, and an admin error that I take full responsibility for), so – even though I had stated in good faith that the shop was closed and did not go on to advertise it after that – a few bits and pieces continued to be bought after the campaign had publicly run its course. This generated a further £286.86 in profits between February and September, which was donated in full to the Southend Vineyard Storehouse (Registered Charity 1047393). The sheer difference in donations from both time periods is a clear illustration of the difference between doggedly marketing a fundraiser to almost 1m supporters across varying social media platforms for hours on end, and, well, not doing any of that at all and leaving it to pasture. The receipt for the Storehouse donation is here:

My Teemill shop is currently closed: it may reopen for further fundraising endeavours at some point, but for now, it’s having a well-deserved break from the limelight.

Thankyou again to everyone who supported and helped raise this incredible amount of money, for both organisations – you’re absolute superstars and every single penny helps them to deliver their essential work.

Jack Monroe.

14 Comments »

    • Love what you do Jack. I worry about you and how much this all costs you emotionally and hope that the amazing things you achieve keep on giving you hope and encouragement.

  1. What an amazing result…you have my admiration (and I have a little shame…not only did I not do anything as amazing, I didn’t know this was happening!)

  2. When (if) you get it up and running again, I’d love a t-shirt, provided we can sort out shipping to Australia!

  3. You are an inspiration, thanks for everything that you do to help people and raise awareness of the struggles so many have to deal with daily. Never believe the haters, you are loved.

  4. I think you are brilliant to have done this – if you do have any further T-shirts will definitely order xXx

  5. You’re a legend, Jack. Sorry you have to deal with nonsense from some quarters. Please keep fighting.

  6. When you reopen, I will buy! I wasn’t aware of this campaign. You have my full support and admiration ❤️

  7. Kia ora Jack,
    From across the world in Aotearoa/New Zealand where people are also suffering,I send my thanks and admiration for your determination against adversity. Kia kaha (Be strong). Thank you.

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