Team's clothing green scheme boosts charity coffers

Staff from Exeter Brand and Marketing Agency AB did their bit for the environment - and charity - this week when they organised a clothes swap.

They sent out an open invitation for anyone to donate any unwanted wardrobe items and take up to three other pieces home in return for a £3 donation to homelessness charity St Petrock’s.

The fun event took place at their city centre Clockwise offices and all clothing left over at the end of the day was donated to the St Petrock’s vintage clothing shop in Paris Street.

More than 600 people every year face homelessness and multiple disadvantages in Exeter and the surrounding areas.

Many of those who use St Petrock’s are people often viewed as being on the fringes of, or outside of, society. They include rough-sleepers, those being supported in accommodation subsequent to homelessness, those facing imminent homelessness, those released from prison and those discharged from hospital, mental health facilities/specialist accommodation.

Sadly for many, homelessness may be accompanied by mental health issues, drug and/or alcohol problems, often as a result of traumatic events in childhood, as well as a complicated medical issues, often a result of many years of rough sleeping. All of which increase the difficulties in achieving stability and independence within the wider community.

St Petrock’s, in Cathedral Yard, has been the first point of contact for people who are homeless, or vulnerably housed, in Exeter and surrounding areas for a generation.

Less than one percent of the world's clothing is currently recycled. Every second a truckload of garments goes into either landfill or incineration, while tons of waste clothing also ends up dumped in countries like Ghana, Pakistan and Kenya, where they constitute an environmental hazard.