Running a charity through Covid-19 - Meet Louise

Hucknall Labour Party member, Louise, is the CEO of the charity Sharewear Clothing Scheme. Sharewear provides those in need with emergency clothing, shoes and bedding across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Sharewear has continued to support those in crisis through the pandemic - read Louise's blog below.

In the very week that Sharewear Clothing Scheme turned 6 years old I found myself all alone, surrounded by unprocessed donations of clothes, shoes and bedding at our main base in Daybrook, Nottingham. “Now what?” I thought to myself. Since founding the registered charity in 2014 I’d faced many challenges and, alongside our incredible team of dedicated volunteers, we had come through them all to support 23000 people. But this was a crisis like no other. I’d stood all 30 volunteers down in line with government guidelines but had made my position clear with our board of trustees that, as a poverty alleviation charity that exists to help people through crises, the last thing we should do was shut down.

The reverse happened. Our twofold system of operating continued. Normally around 40% of those we serve browse and access clothes by strict referral at our base, and 60% are supported through our bulk outreach deliveries to major organisations across Nottinghamshire. During the next few weeks all of our work saw me on the road in our van, delivering 3 times as much as usual to some of  our outreach partners: Framework, Opportunity Nottingham, Probation Services, Remar Nottingham, and NUH Hospitals. Even organisations that don’t usually need our support, like Emmanuel House, turned to us because their usual donation systems were suspended. The most pressing issue was fulfilling our obligation to 13 wards at the QMC and City Hospitals, whose monthly delivery was at the start of April. At the same time as this, our plans to serve a wider area became accelerated and we were soon making deliveries to existing and new outreach partners in Sheffield and Lincolnshire.

After a couple of weeks a few of our volunteers asked if they could come back and support, and two Hucknall friends added extra help. By now we were also providing clothes and bedding to support workers and social workers at the door, who had placed orders in advance for the vulnerable individuals and families they continued to support. Soon, as a few more low-risk volunteers came back in stages, Sharewear began to more closely resemble its normal self.

Meanwhile, throughout all of this time, people were having clear outs at home or already had donations ready to go. With charity shops closed, even more people than usual wanted to donate stock to us. This was perhaps the biggest challenge of all. We couldn’t safely let people drop donations at base, partly because we were operating random, flexible and extended hours to meet the delivery need above. So, we introduced the system of pavement pickups, and Hucknall was one of the first areas to come out en masse to support us, donating a vast amount of quality clothing and bedding. Even Community Union at HMP Lowdham Grange had a mass collection, and we were glad to pick up toiletries for Framework for their emergency drive, as a helping hand in unprecedented times. The support across Notts from pavement pickups was so overwhelming that very soon we were glad of the offer of support from Notts Fire and Rescue Service, whose firefighters at Arnold Fire Station spent their watch processing donations.

The greatest tribute to those selfless volunteers and supporters who had got us as far as our 6th birthday at the start of this period, was the way in which we responded to the crisis for those who are already deep in crisis themselves. I’d like to say a massive thank you to all those who supported our work for those 12 weeks, and continue to do so.

Sharewear is currently fundraising for a Sheffield referral base - please support them if you can here.

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