WARDrobe joins forces with Sharewear and Manchester University for pre-loved clothing drive

WARDrobe, the textile reuse division of Midlands based metal recycling and waste management specialist, Ward, has announced a new partnership with Sharewear and the University of Manchester.

Sharewear is a charity scheme that provides emergency clothing, shoes and bedding to people experiencing personal difficulties or facing poverty. It has community franchises across the country, which aim to tackle clothing poverty.

As part of a bigger event with Sharewear volunteers, who are now studying at the university, the charity has been able to collect over 60kgs of good quality, pre-loved clothing to tackle clothing poverty across the country, through a textile bank provided by Ward.

Ward supplied and delivered the textile bank free of charge, which was situated next to the Roscoe Building, for students, university staff and the general public to easily donate clothing up to mid February. The WARDrobe team then picked up and delivered all the contents directly to Sharewear’s Nottingham-based national processing centre for sorting and onward distribution.

The WARDrobe team collects textiles from a variety of locations across the UK including a network of clothing banks, schools and community groups. Working with local charities, authorities and private organisations, WARDrobe focuses on the recovery and reuse of textiles that can be processed and shared with different outlets rather than being sent to landfill.

Sharewear is just one of several charity partners across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, South Yorkshire and now Greater Manchester that will receive donations of quality clothing through WARDrobe’s textile collection and recycling services. These items will then be distributed amongst members of the community most in need.

Clare Harby, General Manager, WARDrobe, said:

“Our aim is to forge sustainable working relationships that directly benefit local communities. We are committed to supporting the local community and our partnership scheme is a testament to that. 

We’re really pleased to bring Sharewear on board as a new charity partner and work with them on this great iniative at the University of Manchester. We hope that by working together, we are able to support more members of the community while limiting the amount of textile waste that ends up in landfill.”

Louise Cooke, CEO at Sharewear says:

“As a charity, our ability to build partnerships with local businesses that can support our work is vital. Teaming up with Ward means we will be able to help more people living in poverty or struggling to afford quality clothing. We’re so grateful for this new alliance and to see out volunteers flying the flag in other parts of the country to help us achieve our aims.” 

For more information about WARDrobe and its partnership scheme, visit: www.ward.com/business-waste/our-services/textile-recycling/

For more information about Sharewear, visit: www.sharewearclothingsheme.org