Sharewear Clothing Scheme has been working to alleviate clothing poverty by providing emergency clothing and bedding to those that need it across the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and surrounding areas since we opened our doors in March 2014. In that time, we have reached well over 20,000 people in need of our support. We operate in two ways: - On a referral basis, providing support to clients referred to us from a number of partnering referral agencies. In terms of who is referred to us, this varies from people temporarily out of work to the street homeless, from victims of emergencies like house fires to victims of domestic abuse, and everything in between. - On an outreach basis, providing tailored, bulk deliveries to several other organisations such as homeless hostels, refuges for victims of domestic violence and many more. We also provide regular deliveries to several wards at two hospitals in Nottingham, we are the sole provider of clothing and bedding to the Red Cross Emergency Response Unit for the whole of the Midlands and we respond to national and international crises like the Grenfell Fire. Everything we provide has been generously donated by the public and businesses. As a result of this model, we believe at Sharewear that we are the space where clothing poverty meets clothing waste. Our ultimate goal is to roll out our tried-and-tested model on a national scale and alleviate clothing poverty across the UK. As a first step, we are currently planning a permanent expansion into Sheffield, another of the eight English Core Cities, where there is a clear need for our service.
