The Big Picture in Brazil: our donation to Instituto Joaquim Soares

At The Big Picture, the work we do impacts brands and consumers on a global scale. In the last year alone we’ve travelled to 19 countries, nurturing close relationships with local research partners and hearing individual stories from consumers across the world.

As such, we have a unique opportunity to use our international connections to increase our impact beyond commercial value.

Last month, Cynthia (one of our local partners in Brazil) got in touch to tell us about a school for disadvantaged children in Santos Dumont, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Every year, Instituto Joaquim Soares celebrates global culture through a Culture Week – many of the pupils have never been to the cinema or theatre, or seen any art or design from beyond their hometown. Their Culture Week is a fantastic opportunity to broaden pupil’s horizons and turn classrooms into a world of new inspiration. Unfortunately 2016’s Culture Week looked unlikely to happen, due to a lack of design supplies and funding needed to support the event.

As a company who celebrates the power of design and global culture, The Big Picture had to get involved.

Over the course of two weeks, TBPers took part in Olympic-themed fundraising events and at the end of July we sent Cyn over to Santos Dumont with a suitcase full of art and design supplies, as well as some other necessary items (vitamins, laptops, fancy dress etc.)

The photos we received back from Instituto Joaquim Soares show how well these gifts have already been put to use – and put a huge smile on our faces!

To echo Cyn’s sentiment, it’s amazing how these ‘invisible threads’ can develop and allow positivity to spread all the way from SE1 in London to a Minas Gerais in Brazil.

For more information about The Big Picture’s ethics click here.