Mike’s Dive Store, London’s biggest scuba-diving retail centre, signed up as one of the first partners for UK marine charity Sea-Changers in 2015 – and its steadfast financial contributions over those nine years have just hit the £20,000 mark.
Not only does the store upload a share of its profits to Sea-Changers on a regular basis, but it actively encourages its customers to make their own individual donations too.
“We chose Sea-Changers to be our charity of choice purely based on the enthusiasm of Helen and Rachel,” says Mike’s director Steve Brown, referring to Sea-Changers’ energetic co-founders Helen Webb and Rachel Lopata.
The two scuba divers came up with the idea of a charity to channel the donations of divers and other sea-users to worthy marine-conservation causes in 2010. Mike’s, which is based in Chiswick in west London, became one of Sea-Changers’ first industry partners – and has stayed the course.
“Too often with charities nowadays, much of the money is squandered and does not actually reach the intended purpose or people,” says Brown. “Mike’s wanted to choose one where we felt people were genuinely involved, interested and made sure the money got to the intended purpose.
“With Helen and Rachel we felt that was definitely the case. They should be proud of what they have done, especially while holding down other jobs.
All-round commitment
“It started off as 1% of profit but, in case there might not be enough profit, we changed it to an annual subscription, and now people can actually donate on the website. So from certain collections we give a percentage, and people can decide whether they want to add in a donation as well.”
Mike’s has maintained an all-round commitment to the environment that is reflected in its choice of packaging when dispatching dive-gear to customers.
“We were one of the first companies in the industry to use all-eco-friendly packaging,” says Brown. “All our orders go out in paper bags, even though it usually costs us twice or three times as much as plastic bags would. We made that switch years ago.”
One of Sea-Changers’ primary aims was to “enable businesses that care about the marine environment to make a difference”, and it aimed to make it easy for concerns such as Mike’s to channel funding to causes considered most deserving of help.
Since 2011, Sea-Changers says it has funded more than 320 UK grassroots marine-conservation projects, covering research, direct action and education to the tune of almost £400,000.
The recipients can range from small groups to well-known national charities, though Sea-Changers’ priority is to empower grassroots and community groups to take localised action that offers “a springboard for their growth”.
The projects are required to address the root causes of UK marine-conservation threats and challenges, prevent or reduce negative impacts on coastal and marine environments and/or species and add to knowledge of the challenges.
One example is Project Seagrass, which started up in 2013. The following year Sea-Changers was the first organisation to award it a grant. That £500 to fund a training-pack enabled it to diversify its education materials – and by 2022 it had an £800,000+ income and was expanding globally.
Quick to pay tribute
In King Charles III’s first Birthday Honours List last year Webb and Lopata were appointed MBE for their services to marine conservation. They were quick to pay tribute in turn to their dedicated volunteers, partners such as Mike’s, of which there are now 11, and all their other donors.
“We could not have achieved any of the marine conservation outcomes that we have without businesses like Mike’s helping us,” says Lopata.
Mike’s Dive Store was founded in the 1990s by the late Mike Calder. Steve Brown, who had started his diving career in the Red Sea and worked with him, bought the business from the family after Calder’s death in 2009 and it continues to sell scuba, freediving and snorkelling equipment from all the major brands. The operation also includes Mike's Dive Cameras.
Mike’s message to customers about Sea-Changers is to “dive in, support a project or simply spread the word – every little action helps protect the oceans we all treasure”.
Information about the latest round of Sea-Changers-funded projects can be found on the charity’s website. Direct donations to Sea-Changers can be made here.
Also on Divernet: MBES FOR DIVERS WHO BECAME SEA-CHANGERS, SEA-CHANGERS BACKS ‘WIN-WIN’ SOCIAL PROJECTS, MIKE’S RAISES MORE THAN £10K, SCUBA DIVERS HELP TO RAISE CASH FOR UK PROJECTS
