Annie’s own understanding of global inequality came as a result of her work with organisations such as Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Foundation, Comic Relief and Oxfam. Visiting projects in developing countries, she witnessed first-hand the challenges and injustices facing some of the most marginalised people across the globe. “Every time I came back to the UK, the contrast was palpable,” she says. “I woke up to how many resources we actually have access to and how easy it is to take so many things for granted, such as clean running water and sanitation, education from primary level upwards, health care, sexual and reproductive rights, and human rights.”
It was this realisation that inspired the creation of The Circle – the concept of which came from the notion of women connecting and inspiring each other to become advocates and change agents through resources, passion, skills and ideas. The Circle began in an informal and organic way, with Lennox and a small group of friends, including Eco-Age’s Creative Director Livia Firth, meeting for dinner back in 2008. “Many of us, on meeting each other for the first time, discovered that we had more in common than we might otherwise have realised,” recalls Lennox.