Lab Co Clothing charity has helped 95 families and has big plans for the future
WHEN Claire Goode read an article reporting that in 2017-18, more than 206,000 children in Wales were living in poverty she knew she had to do something. And so Lab Co Clothing was born.
In some areas, poverty is severe. In Riverside, Cardiff, 55% of children live in poverty.
Working as a family support worker for Cardiff Council, Claire has come across families struggling to clothe their children.
“I went to visit a family one day and they were expressing how they just couldn’t afford to clothe their children,” said Claire, 47, who has lived in Whitchurch for 18 years.
“I went away and spoke to my husband, and thought, ‘What can I do about it?’”
Since founding Lab Co Clothing, Claire has collected clothing and donated it to 95 Cardiff families in need of financial support. She works on the project at weekends but is hopeful she will eventually be able to work on it full-time.
To begin with, she worked closely with colleagues – social workers and family support workers – to find families that would benefit. Now Lab Co has expanded and Claire works alongside charities and organisations, such as the Oasis Centre and Cwtch Baby Bank.
Through Lab Co, Claire has worked to support a mother and baby assisted accommodation centre in Cardiff, which provides housing to homeless young mothers aged between 16 and 25 and provides them with tailored support to learn to live independently.
At Christmas, Claire raised £795 – surpassing her target of £500 – to provide clothing for the women and children living in the centre. This meant that Lab Co was able to provide clothing to 21 young mums and 20 children.
She plans on providing the centre with further donations in Easter and, when lockdown is over, she hopes to be able to visit and spend time with the centre’s residents.
The impact her work had on the young mothers, their children and members of staff was clear.
“It was heartbreaking, some of the things they were saying, because no one ever thinks about them. One of those babies hadn’t been born and the mum was absolutely over the moon because we’d included her baby,” said Claire.
“This year, I’m going to continue that relationship with them through Lab Co Clothing. No-one really thinks about these girls in society – they’re pushed to the side. The management were really chuffed that we’d chosen them. It’s just something small but for them, it’s very significant.”
Claire says her Christian faith inspires her commitment to her community and to helping others wherever she can.
She said: “With my job, every day I see the effects of poverty massively. With my faith, it’s about people being supportive and seeing a need. Jesus saw a need and he did what he could do, and I’m trying to do the same thing.
“If I were in need, I like to think that somebody would do the same. I love my community and I love people, so that’s the most important thing.
“I’ve been absolutely blown away by people’s generosity. Cardiff has been amazing. I’ve got a website, and I’ve had calls from America and China looking at it, which is brilliant.”
Running Lab Co Clothing has also seen Claire work with The Birth Partner Project, which supports women by ensuring they do not feel isolated during the final stages of their pregnancy.
Claire says that her work providing clothing to families supported by The Birth Partner Project has been “really productive” – particularly for being able to donate clothes to infant and teenage asylum seekers and refugees.
Lab Co Clothing is based in her husband John’s studio on Trade Street in Butetown. In her storage space, she has a board where they keep count of the number of families they have helped.
“That reminds me of how much has happened and how fortunate it is that we’ve been able to do that. Without people’s generosity, we couldn’t do it,” she said.
In March, the building containing her storage space is set to be demolished, leaving her looking for a new base at a time when she will be launching an online store selling Lab Co-branded T-shirts.
The money raised will be re-invested into Lab Co, allowing the charity to buy and distribute new clothes to those who need them.
And, while some of Claire’s colleagues have lent a helping hand in the past, she is on the lookout for people to help package and distribute clothing when it is safe to do so.
As a result of the pandemic, Claire is not accepting donated clothing. However, she is still delivering items contact-free using PPE.
“I’ve had more people contacting me now because of the pandemic,” she said. “It’s definitely made an impact on people’s finances and people don’t stop losing jobs – it’s increased.”
Although it’s only January, Claire is already planning Lab Co’s Christmas projects.
“I’m looking to do something else. I haven’t decided exactly, but it will be around the homeless and focus on family. I really believe in supporting families.”
