Kent & Medway Community Sharewear

Kent & Medway Community Sharewear is for women and children in the area who can’t afford clothes, shoes or toiletries. They don’t need to be affected by domestic abuse – this service is for any woman and child in economic difficulty.

There are 5 ways to access clothes:

1. Access referral – professionals

Chatham: Mondays 9am — 12pm and Wednesdays 1pm — 4pm

Sittingbourne: NEW venue and opening times to be announced in the New Year.

• Email us for the referral form, complete it and email it to us. Your client can then come at any time during our Chatham or Sittingbourne drop in – there is no need to make an appointment. Just make sure your client has the address and opening times.
• Please note we cannot allow children under the age of 11 into our office due to health and safety restrictions; the exceptions are children in buggies. 
• If a client has attended our office in the past she will be recorded in our system and she will not need a brand-new referral, other than an update of the items needed. However, to make sure everybody has an equal chance and there is no misuse of the service, nobody is allowed to attend within three months of their last clothing collection except in the case of clothing needs changing, such as a child outgrowing their current size. 

2. Click & collect – professionals

Chatham: Mondays 9am — 12pm and Wednesdays 1pm — 4pm

Sittingbourne: NEW venue and opening times to be announced in the New Year.

• If your client can’t come to our Chatham office themselves, we offer a collection option where you come and collect the pre-ordered items on behalf of your client. 

3. Outreach deliveries to organisations in Swale and bulk collection for organisations in Kent

• Using our detailed outreach order form, local organisations can receive a monthly delivery of quality checked, sized and categorised clothing which they can then make available to their own service users. This service can be arranged as a standing order. 

4. Mobile Sharewear in Swale – no referral needed

• We organise regular sessions in partnership with organisations that have the right space, where clients will have self-access and be able to browse. You tell us what your clients need, and we come over with the equipment and clothes.

5. Open Days – no referral needed

• Our Open Days take place at our Chatham and Sittingbourne bases
  • Chatham: First and last Monday of every month from 9am to 12pm at Fort Luton (Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, ME4 5XJ)
  • Sittingbourne: NEW venue and opening times to be announced in the New Year.

Yes, all the services we provide to women and children are free thanks to grants and fundraisers.

This Community Sharewear has been funded by Orchard Community Energy, Kent County Council, Another Way Women’s Foundation, Tesco, DS Smith Charitable Foundation & Richard Watts Charitable Fund.

To help cover our costs and enable more women to benefit please consider donating where you can.

Donate

• We’re always looking for pre-loved clothes and shoes as well as new ones, however we will only use clothes which are of very high quality.
• Please use our quality rule when deciding what to donate to us: if you wouldn’t wear it yourself or want to see a member of your family in it, please don’t donate it to us.
• We can only accept brand new knickers, pants, socks and tights. We will accept extremely lightly worn bras. We accept toiletries as well.
• See FAQ below for where, when and how to donate

Volunteer

• This project is part of our Employability programme where women who’ve experienced domestic abuse can volunteer to enhance their skills and work on their self-esteem and confidence.
• The Employability programme is also open to other volunteers who just want to give back to the community.
• See our Volunteer page for more information about the roles available to support this amazing project!

• Drop off donations at our hubs: Fort Luton, Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, ME4 5XJ – Mondays 9am-12pm and Wednesdays 1pm-4pm and Minster on Sea Parish Council, Sheppey Monday-Thursdays 8am-4pm (lunchbreak 12.30-1pm).
• If you are in Swale, you can also fill out the enquiry form below or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts to discuss other options.
• Keep an eye on our socials for details of our Mobile Sharewear days and come and see us there! If you don’t already follow our Kent & Medway Community Sharewear accounts, please do! (@kentmedwaysharewear)
• We only accept high-quality, clean clothes and shoes for women and children. We need them to be clean because we don’t have washing facilities on site and we need them to be high-quality because the bare minimum we offer is dignity.