Aerende is an online shop selling beautiful products and gifts for your home, all of them made in the UK by people facing social challenges. You can think of it as a special place to find a range of carefully crafted products from around the British Isles, created by makers who struggle to access or maintain conventional employment.

The non-profit organisation was founded in 2016 by Emily Mathieson, a former travel editor for The Guardian, Condé Nast Traveller and Red. A passion for beautiful, useful, locally made homewares led her to question the lack of high-quality options in the ethical interiors sector. Thus began a quest to create a model for considerate, socially valuable shopping that doesn’t compromise on quality or style. 

Although the hub remains a home office in Hertfordshire, Aerende operates as a social enterprise in which all makers, and the organisations who represent them, are integrally involved. Our tagline of ‘life-improving homewares’ reflects our commitment to sourcing and designing unique, limited-edition products that will bring joy, beauty and utility to our customers, as well as a sense of purpose, pride and revenue to our makers, via the charities and social enterprises that support them.

The word Aerende means ‘care’ in Olde English – it was chosen to reflect our commitment to heritage skills and British-made items, as well as to our considerate business practices and interesting in slow living. We believe in the power of consumers to affect social change and we’re delighted to welcome you to our small part of this movement.

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