Wilson Gunn donates to Manchester homeless charity

Staff, at patent and trade mark attorneys Wilson Gunn, donated a vast amount of clothing to help the homeless charity Mustard Tree. This was part of The Empty Shop project.

This innovative project took place in Manchester’s Arndale Centre between 23rd January and 2nd February 2014. The idea was that the general public donate pre-loved clothes to fill up the Empty Shop.

Fashion bloggers, stylists and fashion faces then transformed the store using the donated clothes to create displays. Every evening the store was emptied and the clothes were sent to the homeless charity Mustard Tree. Then the next day, they started over again.

They not only distributed the clothes across the city, but they also sold good quality pieces in their own stores to raise money to help fund programmes that are working directly on the causes of homelessness in Manchester.

The project was brought to Wilson Gunn’s attention by organiser Ben Davies, of shop fitters Clarke Gough, who have been involved in setting up this innovative idea. Hannah Richardson, Business Development Manager at Wilson Gunn said, “When Ben told me about The Empty Shop I knew that we had to get involved. The idea itself is completely different from your normal charity fundraiser, and at Wilson Gunn we are all about new ideas and innovation.”

“The charity Mustard Tree does such valuable work in Manchester to help support the homeless that it has really inspired our staff to get involved and clear out their wardrobes, donating nine large bags of clothes in total. We’re delighted to have helped and we hope it makes a difference to this very worthy cause.”

You can find out more about The Empty Shop by visiting www.emptyshopmanchester.co.uk

Wilson Gunn