A TAILORING company in Edinburgh is donating £50,000 worth of suits to charity in a bid to help those in need find employment.
The Edinburgh Tailoring Company (ETC) has pledged the garments to Grassroots Clothing, a charity that helps remove work barriers by providing high-quality interview clothes for disadvantaged men.
Established by Chris McGowan four years ago, ETC provides bespoke luxury tailoring to domestic and international clients.
Chris had hundreds of ex-display suits, jackets, trousers and shirts and reached out to Grassroots Clothing to ensure the pieces were not going to waste.
He said: “Every single piece we are donating has been handmade to order and comes from globally renowned cloth mills.
“There is a mixture of sample suits for social media campaigns, fashion and wedding shows.
“Some perhaps didn’t fit a client as well as we would have liked so we remade them with the old one going back on the hanger.
“Over the years we have used others on rotation on mannequins in the studio and such like but ultimately they now need a new home.
“I was determined to see them go to a good cause.
“I like helping people and I wanted to find a charity that I could work with that would put these suits to good use instead of just sticking them on a discounted sale rack.
“Grassroots Clothing fit the bill perfectly as they help people who cannot afford proper interview clothes and I’m delighted to be able to assist them in this way.”
Charity founder Archie Lowe said the donation will make a big difference to many people.
He said: “We offer a unique service, not only in Edinburgh but across Scotland.
“Finding support from individuals, corporate organisations and retailers is key to our continued success and without this we would struggle.
“We would like to thank Chris McGowan from the Edinburgh Tailoring Company for his very kind donation to us.
“This type of support is invaluable to a charity like Grassroots Clothing as we are always in need of such kindness from retailers, especially where we struggle to support men who require larger sizes as well as younger-style clothing for youths, who tend to need smaller sizes.
“Providing quality clothing like this not only helps build the self-confidence of those wearing them but also helps personal effectiveness as they strive to get their lives back on track by gaining employment.”
