Film courtesy of Virgin Limited Edition
Our Craft Centres
Welcome to The Eve Branson Foundation
We are a small charity based in Morocco, spearheaded by Richard Branson's mum, Eve Branson. Our mission is to provide young people with valuable skills-training through our dedicated craft centres and to preserve traditional Berber crafts, enriching the lives of local families from Atlas Mountain communities. Since 2005, our collaborative programmes have made a positive impact in the region and we continue to work in close partnership with award-winning hotel Kasbah Tamadot.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are working with our partners throughout the world to provide an immediate package of support for vulnerable families. Given the structural weakness of the healthcare system in the region and the proportion of people working in the informal labour market and who are reliant on tourism, the economic consequences of this crisis are potentially devastating. We must act now for our rural community of artisans and young trainees. Donate today to help us build a significant fund to aid the future recovery of these precious Berber communities. Thank you.
A Message from Our Founder
"My love of Morocco and the wonderful people that inhabit it, stems back to the late 90s when my son Richard famously made a series of endeavours there – attempting to pilot a hot air balloon around the world, non-stop. While Richard was preparing his balloon for the voyage, I journeyed into the beautiful foothills of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. Here I stumbled upon Kasbah Tamadot, an exquisite property with breath-taking views.
Richard agreed to buy the Kasbah on the condition that I would help the local Berber people living in the more remote surrounding villages. I grasped the challenge with both hands and heart, and the Eve Branson Foundation (EBF) was born.
EBF’s charitable mission is to enrich the lives of people in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and we have many exciting projects and programmes focused on doing just that.
Tansghart was the first of our craft houses, and it was established to train young women who had dropped out of school. We now proudly run three craft centres in the area, with each centre encouraging the production and sale of artisan goods. This allows the young people to generate a small income for themselves and their families.
Alongside our skills-training centres we work with a wonderful set of partners to enable us to support community initiatives tackling healthcare, wellbeing, environmental issues and access to education.
Since the very beginning, we have worked hand in hand with the team at Kasbah Tamadot, who employ over 90 per cent of their staff from the local community to enhance living standards in some of the most impoverished communities surrounding the property.
We work in partnership with each village surrounding Kasbah Tamadot, to bring about transformations both economically and socially and have learned through mutual respect and determination, how to successfully combine our entrepreneurial spirit with the Berber culture.
For EBF to continue its work as a non-profit charity, we rely on funding from individual donors and guest visits.
I’m thrilled to see how far the young people attending our centres have advanced and incredibly proud of their hard work. With your support, we can continue to offer young people in rural Morocco a creative and more independent future." - Eve Branson.
Watch our short film below about EBF's work in the High Atlas Mountains.
