Happy endings and new beginnings: Beam x Mustard
The idea of 'home' is central to what we do at Mustard. We know the importance of a space to feel safe in and we have always wanted to use our business for good. Over the last 5 years, we have donated £5 per order through our UK store to Beam to change the lives of those experiencing homelessness, but the time has come to stop. Here's why.
5 years ago we both came up with an idea at the same point in time: to support Beam, a revolutionary new crowd funding platform with a difference.
What we loved about the concept of Beam was that it took a genuinely holistic look at the factors standing in the way of a person getting from A (difficult situation) to B (having stability and a direction forward.) We were inspired by the compassionate view of homelessness as a collective challenge to tackle. Beam founder Alex Stephany's belief that the reason people find themselves experiencing housing insecurity usually comes down to a lack of education and opportunity on the one side, and lack of support and scaffolding – the beams – on the other, really spoke to us. Both of these needs were met time and time again for Beam members through the kindness of strangers and the dedication of support workers combined.
We are immensely proud to have been the biggest donor to Beam's outstanding work. As Alex said to us: "You have supported more people through Beam than any other company – Google, Amazon, big banks and others who said they love what we're doing." As a small business, that achievement is beyond anything we could have ever dreamed of.
Each month we had the honour of sending the transfer over, and after five years, that total now stands at £207,707. That money has been used to change the lives of 2177 people. 1038 people have been supported into work and 1029 have found stable housing. These are not just numbers, but real people with real stories and we will always feel grateful to know that we contributed to such long-term and meaningful change for so many, through Beam.
A baby Becca, Jess and Beam founder Alex at the launch of our partnership in 2019 – a lifetime ago!
the next chapter for Beam
In 2025 Beam is changing directions and once again, leading the way towards a better world through technology. Since it began, Beam has used crowd funding donations to support thousands of people into homes and jobs. As Beam evolves, they'll continue supporting people out of homelessness, but they are no longer accepting donations. For us, this means the end of a chapter as we will no longer be donating £5 per UK order.
a note from Beam
"Over the last 7 years, crowdfunding has helped us and our partner registered charity, The Beam Foundation to support more than 4,000 people out of homelessness and into jobs, education and homes. Every penny donated went to supporting people out of homelessness, no matter when it was donated. Successful as that model has been - a new frontier of delivering social impact at vastly greater impact has opened up, made possible by AI. Ultimately, Beam Up Ltd has always been about using technology to drive exceptional levels of positive social impact. As technology evolves, so must we.
We've been working for over a year on new and more scalable models to deliver impact. After testing these models, Beam has decided to focus on a new path with the potential to support not just thousands but millions of people in the coming years.
Beam has been developing tech-enabled services and new tools for frontline workers that can transform how welfare services are delivered. These tools directly aid social workers who are on the frontline, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. This year, we've seen the remarkable impact of our first new technology. It's called Magic Notes and you can read about it on the BBC.
Crucially, these changes have not impacted members in any way: all members using this crowdfunding model will have their campaigns fully funded. They'll continue to receive life-changing essentials from employment training to rental deposits for a safe home - now and in the future."
what's next for Mustard
While we are sad to close this chapter of Mustard, we know it means bigger, better and more impactful change is coming, and we will be cheering Beam on and ready to support whenever we can.
Looking ahead, we have some exciting ideas brewing for ways to continue on our path of giving back. We'll be working away at what that looks like and can't wait to share that with our beautiful customers and partners soon!
Love, Becca + Jess
