Mobile wardrobe goes up north

BALLARAT’S leading child and family organisation’s non-profit program Thread Together made its way to Creswick and Clunes for the first time this week.

Cafs staff brought their mobile wardrobe, which is aimed at providing brand new clothing to those struggling financially, to the northern towns on Tuesday, with support from Community Bank Creswick and District.

Setting up at Creswick Neighbourhood Centre, people were encouraged to try on brand new outfits donated by retailers across the country.

Cafs CEO Wendy Sturgess said it’s important their service is made available for as many surrounding towns as possible.

“We’ve been out and about to Beaufort and places like The SoupBus in Wendouree,” she said.

“The great thing about the van is we take our clothes out to where people are and they can walk away with some new outfits.

“We often have people saying ‘this is the first time I’ve had a new outfit.’ We had a man in his 50s saying he’s never had a new pair of jeans.

“This makes people feel valued and connected, that someone cares.”

Based at an outlet on Grenville Street for the past three years, the local Thread Together offering went mobile last year with a wardrobe van on loan from the program’s Sydney branch.

It costs around $200,000 each year for Cafs to run the volunteer-helmed mobile outlet, which is funded with community support and donations.

The initiative is expected to be delivered at Creswick and Clunes quarterly for the next year, with the mobile van to arrive at both towns’ neighbourhood centres thanks to $15,000 in grant funding from the local bank.

Community Bank Creswick and District chair Marcus Walsh said he hopes the collaboration is the first of several with Cafs.

“In Creswick and Clunes, there’s a huge need for this sort of thing so this is a partnership we’re really excited to start with this initiative,” he said.

“As a community bank we’ve contributed over $2 million into the community over 17 years and average around $300,000, and this is an excellent project to get behind.

“This is the start of hopefully a long relationship with Cafs who do such a great job not only in Creswick but the greater region so we want to be involved in their other programs.”

Information on Cafs’ other services across financial wellbeing, parenting support, and gambler’s assistance was also made available at the pop-up, which will continue to feature in subsequent visits.

“We often have financial counsellors on these days and family support so people in a very natural way can get a bit of help and ask questions,” Ms Sturgess said.