Charity warns of rise in 'clothing poverty'

A clothing charity that supports people in financial difficulties has said it is seeing more working people facing "clothing poverty".

The Sharewear Clothing Scheme in Nottingham allows people in need to choose clothes in a "dignified" shop-like setting.

Since the charity launched, it has grown year on year, according to fundraising manager Emily Ashton.

Ms Ashton said the charity received about 2,000 referrals a month, with many of those now coming from working families.

"I think there's a definite cost-of-living bite and that's getting harder.

"I think we were hoping that we might come out the other side of that slightly but it seems to be biting even harder for people," Ms Ashton added.

Sharewear provides clothing and bedding for people referred to the charity, or through outreach work via other organisations.

The charity is often called to help people who need clothing urgently, such as following a house fire or for a person leaving a care setting with few possessions.

Ms Ashton said: "Clothing poverty means that people can't actually engage with life, it leads to social isolation, it leads to them withdrawing.

"It can really impact their mental health, as well as not being able to get outdoors, which is particularly important this time of year for physical health as well as mental health."

She added more recently, there was a pattern of people returning to Sharewear for further help.

"I think as the cost of living continues to bite, more and more people are finding themselves needing that little bit of help just to function," she said.

When people visit the charity for what it calls "clothing interactions", the clothes are displayed in size order on rails, to look like a shop.

"It's about making sure that people who sometimes need to get help from 'the system' aren't dehumanised in doing so.

"It's so frequent that people become a statistic or a name on a form and that's the exact opposite of what we're seeking to do here," Ms Ashton said.

Elsaida Golemi started volunteering for the charity three months ago, after being helped by Sharewear.

"I came because I was seeking asylum and as a single mum with two children, I need help for clothes, for myself and my children, because I couldn't afford to buy any," she said.

Ms Golemi said she arrived in the UK by herself and was pregnant at the time.

"It was so stressful. I thought, 'how am I going to manage? Am I going to manage?'

"But here it was so helpful, the girls helped me a lot," she said. "They made me comfortable with asking for things."

Now, with demand on the rise, Ms Ashton said the charity was in need of donations, particularly in menswear and underwear.

Throughout Christmas, Sharewear ran a campaign encouraging people taking part in secret Santa gift exchanges to instead use their budget to donate new underwear to the charity.

It will also be running a "Man-uary" campaign, asking men to donate more clothing throughout January.

Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.