Swindon store leads national coat-swap campaign to help the homeless

A clothing store based in the Swindon Designer Outlet and a Swindon homeless charity have partnered to launch a coat swap campaign to help the homeless.

To mark World Homeless Day (10/10) national outdoor clothing brand retailer TOG24 has partnered with Threshold Housing Link to launch a campaign to help the homeless.

The nationwide 'Coat-Swap Campaign' offers TOG24 customers 15% off their purchase in return for a pre-loved coat. The clothing brand will then donate the coat to Threshold as part of the two-week campaign which runs from 10 October to 24 October.

Donna Emms, TOG24 Area Supervisor, said “We wanted to do something special for the homeless community.

"Working for a family run business, community is close to our hearts and I wanted to find a way that we could link the two. During the winter TOG24 are known for our warm and waterproof jackets so I began to think how this benefit could someone.

"It’s a well-known fact that homelessness is an ever-growing concern in Swindon, so what better than running an event where we can offer a customer a discount in return for a coat donation. After a few google searches, I was very impressed with the work that I saw Threshold undertaking and I reached out to them as they have been running quality homeless services since 1972 in Swindon. I saw they are a long standing local established charity who do great work for the homeless community.

"Originally this event was only being run in our TOG24 Swindon at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, however the company thought it was an amazing idea and we have now launched our ‘Coat-Swap Campaign’ across more than 20 of our UK stores who have all nominated their local homeless charity.

"Michael has been great to work with and I have never met someone who has so much energy and drive to tackle the issue of homelessness."

Michael Keenan, Threshold’s Chief Development Officer, added: “As the weather becomes colder and wetter the demand on the critical human services our charity provides simply increases.

"We are very proud to announce such a fantastic partnership as we launch this brilliant campaign with TOG24, our Business Against Homelessness partner. Customers will get 15% off a new coat when they swap one in store, and TOG24 will donate your pre-loved coat to Threshold. It's an offer good for all, and together we hope we can warm those that are sleeping rough and in desperate need, not just in Swindon, but via nominated homeless charities across the entire UK.

"It’s been a pleasure to develop this campaign with Donna which we launched­ together on World Homeless Day. The campaign will run for 2 weeks until the 24 October”.