A Small Act at Checkout: How We Support Sweet Louise

If you have shopped with us online, you may have noticed a small invitation in your cart: the option to add $2 and pay it forward to Sweet Louise.

It is deliberately simple. There is no separate form and no lengthy donation process. Just one small, completely optional choice at the end of your order.

It might not feel significant in the moment, but when hundreds of people make that same small choice, it becomes something much bigger. I wanted to explain where that generosity goes, how the programme works and why Sweet Louise is a charity we are so proud to support.

It started with Louise

Sweet Louise takes its name from Louise Perkins, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 27 years old. At 29, she learned that the cancer had advanced and was given approximately two years to live.

Louise went on to live for another ten years.

She continued studying, travelling, spending time with friends and filling her life with the people, experiences and everyday rituals that mattered to her. She refused to let cancer become the sole focus of her life.

After Louise passed away in 2004, her husband, Scott Perkins, established the Louise Perkins Foundation in her memory. Sweet Louise was launched in 2006 with a clear purpose: to help other New Zealanders living with incurable breast cancer live as well as possible, for as long as possible.

You can read more about Louise’s story on the Sweet Louise website.

What Sweet Louise does

Sweet Louise is New Zealand’s only charity dedicated to supporting people living with advanced and incurable breast cancer.

Its care extends well beyond medical treatment. Sweet Louise provides practical, emotional and social support to women and men throughout New Zealand, as well as support for their families.

This can include:

• Regular, one-to-one care from Support Coordinators with experience in oncology and palliative care

• Emergency food and petrol vouchers

• Meal deliveries and practical help around the home

• Peer meetings, social events and opportunities to connect with others who understand

• Wellbeing services and complementary therapies

• Family experiences that help create meaningful memories

Membership is free, and Sweet Louise receives no government funding. Its work depends entirely on donations, grants, partnerships and the generosity of people who choose to help.

How paying it forward at Flux works

Our pay-it-forward option is powered by GoGenerosity, a New Zealand platform that connects businesses, their communities and charitable organisations.

When you add a contribution to your Flux order, it is pooled with contributions from other shoppers. Once the balance reaches the required amount, it is converted into a Flux gift card at full retail value.

Sweet Louise can then redeem that gift card through Flux for products chosen to support its community.

This is an important part of how the programme works. Your contribution is not simply passed on as an abstract amount. It becomes something tangible and useful, selected by the people who understand what Sweet Louise members need at that time.

At Flux, 100% of the generosity contributed through the programme is turned into gift packs for people supported by Sweet Louise.

What your generosity has achieved so far

As of August 2026, Flux shoppers had paid forward $2,348. A further $1,250 contributed by corporate supporters has brought the total value of homeware paid forward through our partnership to $3,598.

According to our GoGenerosity impact hub, that generosity has now reached 144 people through Sweet Louise.

Behind those totals are hundreds of individual decisions. Someone reached the end of an order, saw the invitation and chose to add a little extra for a person they may never meet.

The amount may have been small, but it became meaningful because it was repeated. That is the quiet power of doing something together.

Why this partnership feels right for Flux

At Flux, we believe the things around us can influence how everyday life feels. This idea sits at the heart of what we do and the wider philosophy behind Flux Boutique.

A calm room cannot remove illness or make an incurable diagnosis less devastating. We would never pretend that it could.

But practical help can relieve one pressure. A thoughtfully selected gift can remind someone that they are being thought of. A small moment of comfort can make one part of a very difficult day feel a little gentler.

Sweet Louise understands that care is not only clinical. It can also be practical, emotional and deeply human. It is found in the meal that arrives when cooking feels impossible, the petrol voucher that makes getting to an appointment easier, the support coordinator who checks in and the opportunity for a family to spend meaningful time together.

That thoughtful, person-centred approach is why supporting Sweet Louise feels like such a natural fit for Flux.

How you can take part

If you would like to pay it forward, you will see the option in your cart whenever you shop online with Flux.

There is never any pressure to contribute. Choosing to shop with us already supports a small New Zealand business, and we are genuinely grateful for every order.

But when you do choose to add that extra $2, please know that it joins hundreds of other small acts of generosity and becomes something a person supported by Sweet Louise can genuinely use.

You can also learn more about Sweet Louise or support the charity directly.

Thank you to every person who has paid it forward so far. Your generosity may begin with a small click at checkout, but it does not end there.

Related: Why We Chose This: The Questions Every Piece Has to Answer Before It Comes Into Flux and Visiting Flux at the Mount: A Homewares Stop on Maunganui Road