"Helping people is contagious": Patricia Caring on blending philanthropy with hospitality
Patricia Caring with Children in Brazil with The Caring Family Foundation, The co-founder of The Caring Family Foundation speaks about her tireless activism on International Women's Day
3 min read
The Carings launched the foundation in 2019, with a focus on combatting child poverty, domestic abuse, and deforestation in the UK and Brazil, Patricia's homeland. Since then, they've been instrumental in planting two million trees in the Amazon, supporting more than 10 thousand women and children with domestic abuse services (including a dedicated centre in Brazil) and delivering two and a half million meals to communities in need.
With so much already achieved in just five years, I ask Caring what she's proudest of to-date. "It's hard to mention just one thing, there are so many I can think of," she says. "But one in particular is about a woman that I met at our centre, on one of my first visits to Brazil. This one woman's story stuck with me because of the violence and brutality she and her family had endured for generations. She was in a fragile state when I met her, and having suicidal thoughts. We offered all the support she needed to rebuild her and her daughter's life. When I went back to Brazil, she emotionally shared that she had finally broken free from her abuser, has found economic independence and is now employed. There are still a lot of things she has to work through, but she is in a good place, and she can smile again."
This year, the foundation plans to unveil a groundbreaking Domestic Abuse Centre in London, which will both address barriers to employment and foster independence. Caring is passionate about enacting tangible change, and the centre will offer real job opportunities through the Employability Readiness course. Some women who benefit from the centre will even be offered jobs within the Birley group. "I am excited to explore the possibilities of taking it a step further, by creating employment opportunities for the women re-entering the workforce within our hospitality business," says Caring. "It's a dream of mine to one day unite the industry in a collective philanthropic effort to help as many women and children as possible."
