Colleagues from Verastar have donated dozens of formal outfits to Working Wardrobe – a service that provides tailored outfits and workwear for unemployed people across Greater Manchester who need to get ready for an interview or a job start.
Sara Mak, community relations at Verastar comments: “At Verastar we encourage all colleagues to ‘dress for the day’ – removing the need to be suited and booted in the workplace. Dozens of our colleagues have donated their good quality workwear that they no longer need to support the Working Wardrobe service.”
Working Wardrobe currently covers Salford, Trafford, Tameside & Stockport and appointments can only be made through a registered referral partner. Once the service receives a referral, a member of the team will contact the client to discuss their upcoming interview or job start and complete pre-dressing forms around style and location preferences, as well as sizes and any additional needs.
The client is then sent an appointment confirmation via email or text, and a reminder the day before the scheduled session. So far the service has supported over 400 candidates across the Greater Manchester region.
Natasha Bernard is the Working Wardrobe manager and has been partnering with the team at Verastar since August this year. The partnership has included passing current entry level vacancies through to the service to offer to candidates as well as donating good quality new and second-hand workwear.
Natasha comments: “We all know that first impressions count, therefore it’s easy to understand that restricted access to suitable interview clothing can be a barrier to getting into work.”
We rely heavily on partnerships like the one we have with Verastar to maintain our wardrobe stock levels and give candidates the confidence they need to get the job that they deserve.”
