Employment and freedom
Our Partner Sewing Centres provide Equitable Empowering Employment
for people who have faced Exploitation and Discrimination.
Equitable employment goes beyond ethical business - it recognises the different needs and circumstances of their employees and
provides tailored support to help each person succeed and build a fulfilling life.
Each centre has their own unique approach based on their garment worker's needs. Including health care, counselling, and
adapted work environments. The centres also provide multiple avenues for education, vocational training, and employment pathways.
The sewing centres are part of larger humanitarian organistions which are active and powerful forces for good in the
communities in which they operate. They have established schools, homes, and community centres for people in need
and provide education for orphans, street children, and people living with disability.
"Equality is giving everyone the same pair of shoes.
Equity is giving everyone a pair of shoes that fit".
- Anonymous
Equity, Sustainability & Community
A Living Wage
All of our partner sewing centres provide their workers with a salary above the living wage.
This wage enables a standard of living that includes "food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs including provision for unexpected events."
(Global Living Wage Coalition)
A Cleaner Earth
We carefully select fabrics that are organic, biodegradable, and have minimal environmental impact. We choose fibres and fabrics which use less natural resources, and reduce pollution, environmental damage and waste.
We aim to achieve best practices at all levels of production to ensure that our garments enhance the welfare of people and planet at every stage of production from bloom to bedroom.
As a result, the clothes we wear are not only better for the planet but also safer for us.
Humane Work Hours
All of our partner sewing centres also ensure that their employees work reasonable hours, allowing them to have a fulfilling life-work balance.
They also receive recreation and sick leave.
Close, Transparent Supplier Relationships
Every thread tells a story, and we strive to achieve transparency at every level of our supply chain, requesting ethical and sustainable certifications and holding suppliers to high standards around labour rights, environmental impact, and circularity. We’re always learning and improving, drawing on the insights of groups like the Walk Free Foundation and engaging in shared spaces for change, including The Collaborative Advantage, because building a fairer future takes all of us.
Empowering Work Environment
All partnering organisations ensure that workers have a safe, equitable work environment. This includes adapted and accessible facilities, resources and equipment.
At AIM sewing centre survivors have access to four onsite counsellors during and after work hours. As well as healthcare, accomodation, legal representation, and diverse training opportunities.
Maison Chance's Take Wing Centre has adapted training and work spaces for people with disability, and also provide physiotherapy, aqua-therapy, healthcare, and childcare.
Breaking the Cycle of Exploitation
Globally, 160 million children work to pay towards their families most basic needs. 53 million children are not in school. In Cambodia, over 300,000, 1 in 10 children are forced to work. Even for those children in child labour who get to attend school, most struggle to balance the demands of education and their work.
Our partner centres, AIM and Maison Chance provide education for vulnerable children, and support their families so that their children do not need to work, empowering them to create a bright future that powerfully breaks the cycle of poverty and exploitation.