Goodman and Thread Together: solving two problems with one solution

Thread Together is tackling clothing insecurity and reducing textile waste by delivering new clothes to people in need across Australia

• Eleven mobile wardrobes delivering clothes directly to communities
• Nearly 200 women’s shelters now equipped with wardrobes
• Over 700 tonnes of new clothing diverted from landfill each year.

Working together to support people in need

Thread Together, founded in 2012, tackles two big challenges: clothing insecurity and textile waste. The organisation collects brand-new clothes that would otherwise end up in landfill and gets them to people in need. Partnerships with businesses, fashion brands, and corporate supporters are at the heart of its model - helping to expand its impact nationwide.

Goodman Foundation began its partnership Thread Together in late 2019, by assisting the non-profit organisation in its work with women and children escaping domestic violence. What began with a single wardrobe in one refuge has now grown to include nearly 200 wardrobes in women’s shelters across Australia. 

Each wardrobe is stocked with essentials like loungewear, sleepwear, and underwear, ensuring that women and children arriving at shelters have access to new clothes immediately.
As the partnership with Thread Together has grown, Goodman Foundation has expanded its commitment to include support for Thread Together’s natural disaster relief program and a number of other capacity-building initiatives. 

Access to warehouse space owned by Goodman has been particularly valuable - allowing Thread Together to accept more donations, work with more volunteers and move ever closer to fulfilling its mission. 

“The rent concession and warehouse space provided by Goodman was transformative,” says CEO of Thread Together, Anthony Chesler. “It allowed us to help more people and keep more clothing out of landfill.”