It’s Sunday morning. My coffee is sitting on the desk, slowly getting colder even though it’s already 30 degrees outside. Cyprus does that thing where it turns into July and it’s as if someone has turned the volume up overnight.
I’ve been trying to write my usual Sunday reflection, but I keep circling around something slightly uncomfortable. Not a win, not a breakthrough, but a hang-up.
Before writing this, I also spent half an hour editing one of those Empire State Building memes that’s everywhere this week. Mostly because I couldn’t resist. But also because I realised the joke accidentally captured exactly what I’d been trying to write about…
Love Our Island started as a design challenge. A simple idea about whether better design could encourage better behaviour around littering. Something I thought would sit neatly alongside everything else I do. It didn’t. It has slowly become something that takes up most of my time. In May, around 70% of my working hours were spent on it. And it currently earns nothing. In fact, it’s cost me in printing waterproof banners, posters, stickers and all the billable hours I’ve left on the table to speak at schools, events or just meeting people who have reached out. Which is fine for a while. Most things worth building start that way. But at some point, the question changes from “does this matter?” to “how does this continue?”
And that’s where I’ve found myself this month. Trying to build a funding structure. Donations, sponsorship and the slightly awkward reality of asking for support. It’s made me realise something I didn’t expect. I have a bit of a hang-up about it.
It’s a discomfort I recognise from somewhere else entirely — those people on the high street who stop you with clipboards, warm smiles and a question that leaves you feeling guilty for saying “sorry, I can’t talk now”.
“Chuggers,” as they’re unflatteringly called. I’ve always had a slight reflex reaction to that world. Not because I don’t believe in the causes, but because I find the asking uncomfortable. And now I find myself on the other side of it. Trying to build something that needs support, and discovering that asking is its own skill. And, more importantly, not a moral failing.
Naively, some part of me had quietly assumed that if something was “for good,” it should somehow exist outside of money. That it should just happen on good will. But the more I think about it, the less sense that makes. Teachers are paid, doctors are paid, designers are paid (although I’ve had my fair share of “do it for the exposure” scenarios). Even the most meaningful work in society usually has someone behind it who is able to continue because it is sustainable.
This week I started putting it into practice. I made a donations reel on instagram with destream A platform built for creators, where fees don’t get in the way of impact. They came on board after seeing my video and reaching out. They are based in Cyprus and have been helping me figure out how to make the project sustainable. Alongside setting me up on their platform – which is as much an evolving creator tool as it is a payment system – they are also sponsoring my work. It’s not enough to cover all my costs, but it’s a start and it shows me that companies are interested in helping.
I’m also working on a refreshed website with Absolute Websites – again, they were kind enough to help build my design and figure out the backend of a sponsorship structure, from individuals and small local businesses to larger partners who want to support something visible, practical and ongoing.
Then there was a small moment of momentum this week that stuck with me. I posted a story on Instagram asking if anyone knew someone at the company behind the Trilogy Towers — the rather dominant buildings right by the Limassol seafront that I can see as I write this. Within half an hour I had several people send me the same contact. I reached out, got her email and sent what I can only describe as a fairly confident (if I do say so myself) proposal for a paid collaboration.
No grand outcome yet, but I’m hopeful. The lesson was that most things don’t start with certainty. They start with asking. And, slightly annoyingly, that’s probably the part I’ve been avoiding. Not the building, not the work… just the asking.
I think people and companies do want to help. Most of the time they probably just need to be asked — not in a slightly guilty, clipboard-on-a-high-street kind of way, but in a way that’s open, honest, and actually makes sense of what they’re being asked to support.
Which, on reflection, is probably the bit I’m still learning how to do properly. I still don’t entirely have the hang of it, but I’m learning that discomfort isn’t a reason to stop. Sometimes it’s just the price of keeping something alive.
And with that being said, If you’re interested in supporting or getting involved in Love Our Island, I’d genuinely love to hear from you.
You can donate directly via my Destream link here https://destream.net/live/JamesStanton/donate
…or, if you’re a business and would like to get involved as a partner or collaborator, feel free to DM me and I’ll send over the deck.
No pressure, no clipboard and absolutely no polite attempt to stop you outside a shop.
Have a great Sunday.