The Clothing Bank

Partner(s):

The Clothing Bank collects clothing from retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and the general public. The garments are then stored in their warehouse in Salt River, Cape Town and if necessary repaired and de-branded. Once the clothing is fully restored, it is then sorted into various categories. This ensures that once the clothing is distributed, it is the right match for the organisation that needs it. The clothing is then dispatched on request to their partner NPOs, welfare institutions and governmental services who first-hand identify the needs of communities at grass-roots level. Clothing is also stored and utilised to ensure immediate response for disaster relief.

A significant portion of the clothing is used in the Enterprise Development Programme, in which the women who are selected to participate can buy clothes for a fraction of their value and sell them in their communities for a profit. Women participating in the programme are also required to work in The Clothing Bank facility to gain practical work experience.

After the 12-month development programme, the women will have gained experience running their own micro enterprise, they will have extensive skills training and will have gained experience working in The Clothing Bank's facility. These women will then be in a position to either start their own small business or find employment in the formal sector. A Work Integration Programme (WIP) has been established in support of The Clothing Bank's beneficiaries and focuses on their future prospects on completion of their training. The WIP will seek opportunities for these women to exit the programme and smoothly integrate into the next stage of their economic development.

For more information please visit: http://www.theclothingbank.org.za

Our Involvement:

Beyond the regular, formalized long term programs like BEST Game and BusinessVENTURES, SAIE business development expertise is also leveraged through independent agents as “special projects”. Because of the irregular character of the special projects, they do not have an established, ongoing program implementation mechanism, thus “special projects.” In most cases, independent agents conduct the training after receiving master trainer training from SAIE. In other cases, SAIE service providers and staff may conduct the training on behalf of the firm. The training is usually customized to meet the unique characteristics of the recipient groups.

Project Progress:

The training will start on the 9th March 2010 and over a few months a total of 90 women will be trained in SAIE's Starter Plan programme. The trainings will take place as follows: 1 March: 12 participants 1 May: 20 participants 1 July: 20 participants 1 Sept: 20 participants 1 Nov: 20 participants

Funder:

Product:

Best Game

Location:

Western Cape