Our Impact
As a charity, we have a mission to provide access to clean, quality clothing for those in the UK who need it most.
We do this through our voucher scheme - which gives people the means to choose and select clothing themselves - and our partnerships with charity shops and other organisations.
Here’s a summary of the impact we are making as a charity in our fight against clothing poverty in the UK – we will be updating this page with new information when it becomes available.
Who we help
Homeless people
People who are sleeping rough or find themselves in other situations with no home to live in.
Families in crisis
Families in poverty, plus women and children impacted by domestic violence.
Young and elderly people
Younger and older aged people experiencing poverty.
Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the UK who need support.
Prisoners and ex-offenders
People involved within the justice system, including prisoners and those recently released from prison.
Unemployed adults over 50
People who are experiencing unemployment, often due to redundancy, but are not eligible for any form of benefits
We are not limited to these groups of people and consider requests from any organisation that is needing to support people who cannot afford clothing.
Our impact areas
We help people to gain access to clothing, and the impact is seen in several different areas, including:
-
Restoring dignity and pride for people who are disempowered by the lack of support available for clothing poverty.
-
Supporting parents to provide well-fitting clothes for their growing children, ensuring every child is ready to play and does not feel left behind.
-
Providing empowerment for individuals to access clothes they need to support all aspects of life e.g employment by providing formal clothes for job interviews.
-
Ensuring everyone has access to the right gear for the season regardless of the season, whether it’s a warm coat or breathable summer wear.
As well as helping individuals directly, all gift cards equate to funds Clothing Collective raise being channelled into the charity shops own good causes, representing a double benefit for all donations received.
Our impact in numbers
£279,606
The value of Charity Shop Gift Cards distributed to people in need so far
2,155
The number of charity shops we can support via our scheme
5,946
The number of people we've supported with gift cards to date
93
The number of distributing partners we have supplied gift vouchers to
Statistics updated: April 2026
Evidence of our impact - Perceived benefits
We carried out a survey with our distributing partners that had the aim of understanding more about the impact our gift cards were having on the lives of the people that were receiving them.
Partners were asked to identify the benefits they felt people had from receiving a gift card to buy clothes.
The top benefits identified were:
-
Warmth
-
Wellbeing/health
-
Mental health
-
Economic
-
Employment opportunities
-
Dignity (in being able to select own clothing)
Source: Internal Clothing Collective Survey, conducted with 27 partner organisations between 2024 and 2025
“I am in desperate need of clothing and have come from the street. This means everything to me as I have lost everything.”
Gift Card Beneficiary