We’re so happy to share the news about the official launch of The Lotus Flower UK, which took place in Hastings in Sussex recently.

Our small UK team was delighted to be joined by a roomful of friends and volunteers as we opened the doors to our little event space and shop on the seafront.

During the evening there was lots of inspiring conversation, food and drink, and we enjoyed two beautiful sets from musician tygermylk, who transfixed everyone with her heartfelt songs.

The evening included a raffle too – and we’re so grateful to all those who donated prizes locally. We also began selling creative items made by women from all over the world, including colourful rugs and bags from Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, our Founder Taban gave a speech in which she thanked everyone who has helped us finally kickstart our work in the UK, and our Community Manager Sarah pointed out all the different features of the shop, including a co-working area which is now available for freelancers to use. As a donations-based space, you can work amongst likeminded people, share creative ideas and meet new people, all while giving back for good. If you’re interested in registering for co-working, please email Sarah on sarah@thelotusflower.org.

Hot on the heels of the launch, we also held our first workshop with Healing Souls, in which wellbeing coach Lauren explored the concept of the inner child. We’ll be holding lots more events over the coming months, and if you’d be keen to run your own creative or holistic workshop for the community, either as a series or a one-off, please do fill in this form and let us know.

We’re also looking for volunteers to help us keep the space open day-to-day, and if that’s something you could help with occasionally, you can complete the form here.

In the gallery below, you can see many more photos from the launch event – and a massive thanks goes out to JJOY Freelance for so many lovely images of such a memorable night…