Whitby Wardrobe clothing bank 'constantly busy'

Its owner says the items are flying off the hangers

Author: Karen LiuPublished 26th Feb 2023

The owner of a clothing bank in Whitby says there are queues outside waiting for them to open.

Samantha Murphy runs it at the town's Pavilion on Thursdays between 10am and 12 noon.

She said: "It was about September/October time and I was sat with my friends and thought there's some kids going to school without a winter coat during this financial crisis. My friend was like 'think of all the unused clothes going to landfill and stuff.' We literally looked for a venue and started asking for donations. We were completely overrun.

"We have a lot of regular people who come everytime we're open but we also have people who inbox us privately and they are struggling. We have a little old lady who knits and she brings us new knitwear every week. We have people who maybe their mother or father has passed away and they're bringing in brand new coats with the tags still on.

"We hang them up and things are flying off. Every week we have maybe 10 to 12 families coming in with about 10 single people. We're constantly busy all the time. We have a queue of people waiting for us to open up on a Thursday. It just makes me so proud to know that I've created this. It makes me so proud.

"We're not a swap shop, we're not a 'you must donate to take', you can just come. There's no referral needed and you don't even need to be on benefits or anything. Even if you're a millionaire, still come in and have a look what we've got.

"At the minute it's more reuse, recycle and relove, that's our mantra. At the end of the day so many people are using it and I can't tell you how proud I am of myself and my volunteers. We have an amazing team."

Contact Whitby Wardrobe on their Facebook page.

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