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When I grow up | I want to be an Entrepreneur
Throughout the global Coronavirus pandemic, the rainbow has become the international symbol of hope, with people proudly displaying them in the windows of their homes to encourage people to stay strong. Not since the Second World War has the UK seen such camaraderie - from the 'Clap for Carers' initiative where at the peak of the pandemic, households across the country applauded healthcare workers every Thursday in the streets outside their home, to Captain Tom Moore - a former British soldier who raised £32 million for the NHS in the run up to his 100th birthday
by walking 100 laps around his garden.
Events in the past few months have encouraged people to look out for others and have brought communities together.
One boy - Patrick Vernon-Hoare who is 11 years old, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent - inspired by his love of art and being creative, designed a logo featuring the symbolic rainbow and the words 'HOPE' to raise money for both the NHS and the British Red Cross. We caught up with Patrick and his mum Hayley to get an insight into how just one small gesture can be one big collective way of helping our workers on the front line.
24 Jun 2020
What inspired you to create the Rainbow 'HOPE' logo?
At the end of May, I was sat at the kitchen table feeling saddened about what was going on in the world. Like everyone else was doing at the time, I decided to sketch a picture of a rainbow and as I did, I wrote down our family motto - HOPE. This word is significant to us as it's the intials of all of our names put together - Hayley, Oliver, Patrick and Eva, even our dog is called Hope!
With your sketches complete and proudly hanging on the fridge - what encouraged you to do what you did next?
I'd recently seen on the news the fantastic effort Captain Tom Moore had made in raising money for the NHS and I felt inspired. I thought to myself that if he is able to do something positive to help, then so can I. That's when I had the idea to design my own T-Shirts using the Rainbow HOPE logo. The first thing I did was approach my mum and dad who were very supportive and seeing the opportunity in my idea, kindly purchased the website domain name.
How did you take your idea and make it happen. Were there any challenges?
The idea was mine but Mummy was the one who helped me to make it all happen. She did some research and found a company called Print Social. What is great about Print Social is that it allows you to create your design and list it for sale, but the T-Shirts are made to order, so not only do they do all the printing for you, they give you a platform to sell your items with minimal costs and it's friendly to the environment as they don't produce more than we need. They put us in touch with their sister company 3rd Rail Clothing who screen print the designs on to the T-Shirts. The idea is that 90% of my profits will go to the two charities - 45% to the NHS and 45% to the British Red Cross.
What's next in your quest to be an Entrepreneur?
The most important reason I created the T-Shirts was to raise money for charity and those working on the front line. This has shown me that it's possible to have a little idea and turn it into something big for the good of others. I hope that as I get older and I'm able to do this by myself that I create or design something which allows me to make a lot of money so that I can donate a large amount of my company to charity.
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