A new charity has been established in London, designed to bridge the gap between clothing stock in charity shops and people that cannot afford to clothe themselves and their families.
‘Clothe Me – Thank You’ provides a monetary value voucher redeemable in partner charity stores, enabling people in need to choose their own clothes with dignity without having to rely on hand-outs.
The Rotary Club of London has helped to kick-start the charity with a donation of £500.
The vouchers are offered to people in crisis and help increase footfall to partner charity shops in Britain’s struggling high streets.
When they are spent, a secondary benefit occurs by raising funding for the stores own charitable cause, with ‘Clothe Me – Thank You’ returning the cash value of the voucher back to them.
‘Clothe Me – Thank You’ initially launched with partner charity shop Geranium across their 12 shops around Greater London and funding support from Richmond Parish Lands Charity.
They have since forged partnerships with Rotary London, Royal Trinity Hospice in Fulham and Richmond charity branches of Vineyard Community, Fara and Fara Kids.
A massive thank you to @london_rotary for their generous donation of £500 to Clothe Me – Thank You during one of their weekly lunches. We are grateful to them for aiding Clothe Me – Thank You in our goal to bring clothing to those less fortunate.#Charity#Fundraising#ClotheMe pic.twitter.com/nBM6WX36mK
— Clothe Me – Thank You (@clotheme1) May 27, 2019
Antony Wroe, the founder of ‘Clothe Me – Thank You’, said: “It’s noticeable in our communities how individuals and their families are increasingly struggling to afford the basic needs of housing, food and clothing.
“Whilst food banks provide support, there isn’t an obvious choice for people that can’t afford clothing.
“We believe that people should be able to choose their own clothes rather than having to take what limited choices may be available to them.
“The ‘Clothe Me – Thank You’ model enables this, and at the same time our charity shop partners benefit from the extra money spent in their stores.”
