What is cherry?

cherry CIC (soon CIO) is a non-profit open-sourced platform which allows users to buy and sell clothing and accessories, knowing that 100% of their raised proceeds are going to their charities of choice.

cherry (yes, with a lowercase 'c') aims to benefit all communities through an increased funding for registered charities of all sizes, from large organisations, such as Cancer Research UK, to local initiatives, such as your local youth centre! In other words, you can raise money online with your spare clothes... or by finding your next favourite jacket!

This is a modern solution to:

• Reducing the notorious difficulties charities face in fundraising and book balancing... often in a dying high street!
• Counter the environmental harm and unethical practices caused by fast fashion, with an affordable, ethical, sustainable alternative!
• So much more (again, check the website)!
• As the transactions are made in support of charities, a solution is provided for charities facing challenges such as increasing overhead costs, limited and overstretched volunteers, the decline of high the street, as well as any need of expenses for a separate online store’s development, maintenance and marketing.

This platform ensures a separate source of online income to all charities is available through the sale and listing of its users items.

cherry further benefits the community by promoting an environmentally friendly circular economy.

Every item purchased and/ or sold is both a donation, and a reduction of waste; thus supporting both sustainable and ethical practices, benefiting the environment and the impoverished!

This ethical alternative to fast fashion addresses and tackles both environmental and social concerns; offering a widely scalable solution to both.

We distinguish from 'competitors' in the online second-hand industry firstly by not competing with anyone at all! We are a CIO, regulated by the charity commission focusing entirely on facilitating charitable donations, we apply a small mandatory fee known as the 'purchase security fee' to every donation in order to provide support (including a refund policy), payment and data protection, support our mission and more.

Competitors would require significant legal restructuring and rebranding to achieve comparable charitable impact & user trust, emphasising cherry's unique, open sourced, non-profit and community-focused mission.

My Role

I wear a number of caps with cherry that can be summarised as a Technical Product Manager. I work closely with volunteer engineers to complete tasks, helping shaper the technical approach to problems and reviewing code submissions. I work closely with designers and other non-technical volunteers to shape the roadmap and prioritise functionality that our volunteer delivery team should focus on next.

I work on onboarding new volunteers to the team - vetting them on introductory calls and getting them up to speed technically.

I also champion on leading community initiatives to help drive volunteer engagement and reduce volunteer churn - challenging in a volunteer delivery model.