Our thinking

Taylor-made generosity

19 July, 2024

Taylor Swift, whose earnings have soared amid her blockbuster Eras tour, is making a significant impact offstage: donating to food banks in each city she performs in. Despite the substantial environmental impact of the tour, down to huge convoys and jet-setting around the globe and extortionate ticket prices making the shows inaccessible, it’s encouraging to see a significant social impact being made.

In Cardiff, a donation enabled Cardiff Foodbank to supplement emergency food parcels. Rachel Biggs, the charity’s chief executive, revealed that Swift’s contribution, the largest individual donation they’ve ever received, provided breathing space to buy an articulated lorry full of food and essentials. The donation equated to 10,800 meals, feeding 1,200 people three meals a day for three days and covering two and a half weeks of their typical distribution.

In Liverpool, Swift’s donation to St Andrew’s Community Network, which manages 11 food banks, was described by chief executive Rich Jones as “the most incredible gift.” The funds will cover food donations for a year, easing financial pressures and enabling a focus on fundraising and long-term solutions.

Swift’s generosity not only reduces the burden on these organisations but also boosts morale.

When you’re a star with the astonishing power of Swift you become a brand, and when the financial impact of your tours is so significant as to have an actual impact on inflation you are undoubtedly a business. So it makes sense to us that she should manage her social – and environmental impact – as systematically as any commercial entity. On that front there is a lot more to do, but this feels like a meaningful step in the right direction.

By Bertie Bateman