Dress for Success charity donating winter stock to women in crisis

The Dress for Success charity empowers women in need to gain employment through training and providing professional clothing.

But as they're unable to do one-on-one consultations due to the COVID-19 crisis, they're donating their winter stock to women in crisis.

Dress for Success Christchurch volunteers would normally be carefully crafting outfits specifically for women getting ready for employment.

"It's quite transformational, so while that's a bit of a cliché, they arrive and within an hour… they will leave walking taller, feeling more confident and a much greater feeling of self-esteem," says executive manager Ginny Rhodes.

The charity has racks and racks of good-quality clothing set aside for their winter fundraising sale.

But with the sale cancelled due to COVID-19 - and given the community's needs - they're gifting the lot to women suffering in the current crisis.

"We usually work at the next level, where they're ready for searching for employment, training, or searching for work experience," Rhodes says.

"So what we're hearing is the step before, that is that women actually don't have clothing to wear."

Each bag contains essential winter clothing, a pair of shoes, knitwear, and a heavy winter coat.

All of it has been donated, either preloved or brand-new and safe to use.

"Keep in mind this has been sitting here for the last year we've been gathering for this sale so it's been quarantined," Rhodes says. "It's safe clothing to be using and distributing."

Just one of the kind gestures of the lockdown - women supporting other women in need through the gift of clothes.