St James Quarter (SJQ), regarded as the mixed-use retail, leisure, hospitality, and cultural destination in Edinburgh, has earned its reputation of not just as a place to shop and dine but also as a hub for doing charity. Its latest “charity tie-ups” illustrate its ability as a commercial venue to partner in meaningful ways with non-profit organisations to deliver community value, raise awareness, and mobilise resources. The key dimensions of how St James Quarter approaches charity partnerships, what has been achieved, and why it matters are discussed below.
1. Structure of the Partnerships
A Charity Partner (or “Charity of the Year”) is selected formally by SJQ to form its focal non-profit partner for a set period (often one or two years).
For example:
- Charity partners for a period of 2023 – 2025 are Edinburgh Women’s Aid (supporting women and children affected by domestic abuse) and Health in Mind (a mental health and wellbeing charity in Edinburgh).
- Prior to this, a successful partnership with Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids and Deaf Action in a campaign to raise over £ 100,000 in a 12-month span was conducted, with the target of generating the equivalent of 1 p per visitor through activations.
Applications for being a partner are open to charities operating locally, which in this case is Edinburgh, with criteria such as registration status, community relevance, ability to mobilise volunteering, deliver outcomes, etc.
2. What the Tie-Ups Involve: Activities & Supports
The consistent support by SJQ for its charity partners includes a mix of the following:
- Awareness-raising through visibility: Awareness is raised through signage, events, digital channels, social media, and onsite activations.
- Fundraising activities: Fundraising activities are carried through social events (“pop-ups”), donation drives, staff, and guest engagement, and sometimes by re-purposing traffic (e.g., asking each visitor for amounts) toward charitable giving.
- Volunteering: Volunteering is enabled through SJQ employees or retailers to assist the partner charities, e.g., with events, with support services, with logistics.
- Training & education: Training and education are carried out by helping staff to be more aware of issues the charities deal with (domestic abuse, mental health, deafness/accessibility) so that visitors are better supported.
- Providing activation space /infrastructure: Activation space/ infrastructure is provided by physical spaces in the Quarter for pop-ups (e.g., the “Charity Super.Mkt” pop-up store), dedicated zones to host events, “Listening Spaces”, and places for drop-in support.
An illustrative example to mention is Charity Super. Mkt, a pop-up shop of pre-loved clothing and accessories from multiple charities, was hosted at SJQ during the Edinburgh Festival and beyond. It offered a sustainable, engaging shopping experience where tens of thousands of items, diverted waste (textiles) from landfill, were sold, and funds were raised.
3. Achieved & Expected Impacts
The outcome of these tie-ups has generated measurable outcomes both in financial and non-financial terms.
- Raising funds: The goal was £ 100,000 in a year in the earlier partnership with Cash for Kids and Deaf Action.
- Awareness and inclusion outcomes: SJQ, in coordination with Deaf Action, is committed to becoming more inclusive and accessible to deaf visitors, likewise with Edinburgh Women’s Aid, which raised visibility of services, legal support, safe refuge, etc.
- Social & wellbeing outcomes: During Mental Health Awareness Week, mental health drop-in sessions, listening spaces, and wellbeing activities during events make resources more reachable in a frequented public setting.
- Environmental benefits: Second-hand fashion, substantial textile-waste reduction, and more sustainable consumption are achieved through initiatives like Charity Super. Mkt. For example, over 23,000 items sold in one pop-up saved an estimated 68 tonnes of textiles from landfill.
4. Why It Matters: Broader Significance
These charity tie-ups are not just goodwill gestures but align with larger trends and responsibilities:
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & ESG: Apart from bottom-line retail sales, SJQ leverages its platform by contributing towards societal wellbeing. It shows that shopping centres can be neighbourhood anchors and not just commerce centres.
- Community Trust & Brand Value: As social purpose is given prime importance by consumers, in addition to community engagement, to public goodwill towards SJQ, helping attract social conscious visitors, retain retailer relationships, and position the Quarter as socially engaged.
- Synergies: Mutual benefit is gained from charities via access to high-profile marketing reach and physical space. There is deeper integration gained by SJQ into the local community, enhanced relevance, content for events, and alignment with sustainability and inclusion goals.
- Addressing pressing social issues: There are major challenges in our society, which include domestic abuse, mental health, access and inclusion, environmental sustainability, etc. Bringing these challenges into focus via people visits helps reduce stigma, increases early help-seeking, and channels resources more effectively.
Conclusion
The charity’s tie-ups with St James Quarter showcase a strong model of the participation of commercial developments in social impact. SJQ magnifies the power of diverse actors coming together by selecting meaningful partners, combining awareness, fundraising, inclusion, and sustainability-oriented activities. These partnerships, which might otherwise be neglected, provide access, support, and visibility to causes for the local community in Edinburgh. SJQ’s approach towards other organisations (charities, property-developments, retailers) demonstrates how to embed CSR into the fabric of operations rather than as peripheral.
