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Alexandra donates clothing to online furlough community

February 2021

Award-winning workwear company, Alexandra, has donated over 100 t-shirts to an online community supporting furloughed employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.

FurLearn will be using the shirts as reward for their #Giveitago campaign this month, which will encourage people who’ve been furloughed or made redundant to set themselves a personal goal to achieve as part of their health and wellbeing.

Some of the challenges being undertaken include walking 10,000 steps a day, learning a new language, signing up to a virtual marathon, and completing employability skills courses.

Gary Wills, who founded Furlearn after being furloughed himself last year, said: “Everyone is feeling like they’ve had enough right now and morale is at an all-time low, which is why we wanted to encourage people to commit to something simple and just give it ago.

“We know that by doing a little thing like getting better sleep, keeping hydrated, doing more exercise, or signing up for that course you always put off – it makes you feel so much better about yourself. It’s a small win and that can go such a long way at the moment.

“We are so incredibly grateful to Alexandra for all the shirts. They will be great for our #Giveitago initiative and even future events to come.”

Alexandra, which employs more than 1,500 people, is the UK’s largest workwear solutions provider and has been designing and manufacturing garments since 1854. Recently turning its attention to ethical workwear, it's trying to become one of the go-to ethical clothing manufacturers, UK-wide.

Ian Northmore, Head of Customer Experience at Alexandra, added: “For many thousands of people across the UK, the ongoing pandemic has meant having to suddenly deal with the financial and mental implications of being unable to work; whether that’s through redundancy or being literally unable to get there.

“Such a drastic lifestyle change can be difficult to adjust to, which is why it’s wonderful that organisations like FurLearn have stepped in to give those individuals who’re struggling encouragement and something to strive for.”

FurLearn was set up last March with the idea of empowering, inspiring, and uplifting furloughed and job-searching UK talent during the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

Now with over 2,500 members, it has so far offered almost 40 free online sessions on everything from career support, sleep gurus, healthy eating cooking classes, and even a motivational talk from former pilot John Peters on his time as a prisoner of war.

Alexandra, based at Thornbury near Bristol, has transformed its operations during the Covid crisis. In a matter of weeks, with over 90 per cent of manufacturing capacity in its UK and international factories being switched to producing scrubs for the NHS.

The company’s response to the pandemic was recently recognised when it won the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical category in the prestigious, national Supply Chain Excellence Awards.

For more information on Alexandra please visit www.alexandra.co.uk, or to find out more about FurLearn head to https://www.furlearn.com/.