The world faces many serious challenges. Among the most pressing are climate change, rising temperatures and poverty, issues that affect millions of people and require cooperation on a global scale.
Governments around the world understandably dedicate much of their time, resources and attention to the problems affecting their own countries and populations. At the same time, some of the challenges facing humanity cannot be addressed by individual countries acting alone.
International agreements and commitments have therefore been developed to try to tackle some of these global issues. However, reaching agreement is often difficult, and even when agreements are reached, putting them into practice consistently can prove challenging. Political priorities change, economic circumstances evolve and countries do not always implement their commitments in the same way.
This raises an important question: if some of the world’s greatest problems cannot be solved by governments alone, what can we do as individuals?
Every contribution matters
It is easy to feel that individual actions cannot make much difference when faced with problems of such enormous scale. One person cannot solve climate change or eliminate poverty. However, this does not mean that individual responsibility is unimportant.
If large numbers of people make small changes, those actions can collectively have a much greater impact. The way we live, the choices we make, the organisations we support and the way we use our resources can all contribute to positive change.
It is not necessarily about making one enormous contribution. It is about recognising that we all have the ability to contribute something.
Our approach at Spence Clarke
At Spence Clarke, we try to reflect this principle in the way we operate as a firm and the causes we support.
Both Susan and Alistair, the founding partners of Spence Clarke, are 100% plant based vegans and have been for more than 10 years, they try to encourage all SCers and others, to take on this ethical way of life. Catering for all Spence Clarke events are and always will be, plant based. We also try to support charitable and non-profit organisations whose work addresses important social and humanitarian issues.
Over the years, we have supported a number of organisations and causes, including the Motor Neurone Disease Association in the UK, DEBRA, which supports people affected by epidermolysis bullosa, commonly known as butterfly skin, and the Autismo Ángel Rivière Association, which supports people with autism and their families.
More recently, we have also been supporting Collective Calling, an organisation committed to addressing homelessness in Spain and supporting street children in Tanzania.
Supporting Collective Calling
Collective Calling’s work particularly resonated with us because it addresses vulnerable people in two very different circumstances: people experiencing homelessness here in Spain and children living on the streets in Tanzania.
We recently decided to make a donation of 3,000€ to Collective Calling to support its work and the people it helps.
We hope that our contribution will help the organisation continue its important work and make a positive difference to the lives of those who need support.
A shared responsibility
There is no single solution to the world’s greatest challenges. Governments have an important role to play, as do businesses, organisations and communities. However, individuals also have a part to play.
We may not be able to change the world on our own, but we can choose where we spend our money, what organisations we support, how we live and how we treat the people and environment around us.
A small contribution may seem insignificant when considered on its own. When thousands or millions of people make their own contributions, however, the combined effect can be substantial.
At Spence Clarke, we believe that contributing where we can is better than simply accepting that the world’s problems are too large for individuals to influence. We will therefore continue to look for ways in which our firm and our team can support worthwhile causes and contribute, however modestly, to making a positive difference.
