Unemployed women's charity Smart Works Leeds opens its doors for designer bargain fashion sale

Based at Mabgate Mills in the city, Smart Works Leeds and its team of staff and volunteers help women across Yorkshire by providing them with clothing and coaching for job interviews. Clients come from the region’s job centres, and from referral partners including organisations and charities for care leavers, refugees, the homeless, survivors of addiction and domestic abuse, and from the prison service.

On Wednesday, February 22, at 5.30pm, Smart Works Leeds will open the doors to its centre at Mabgate Mills for its first in-house fashion event, a ticketed event featuring a sale of high-quality clothing and accessories, most never worn. Many of these clothes are donations from the charity’s supporters, which include leading British and international fashion brands.

There will also be the chance to meet clients, staff and volunteers at the centre. Actor and presenter Natalie Anderson, known for her roles in Emmerdale, The Royal and Hollyoaks and a regular guest presenter on ITV Daytime, was appointed Smart Works Leeds first official ambassador last year, and has been a supporter of the service since it opened in the city in 2019.

“I was raised by a young working mother whose sheer tenacity and drive to succeed inspired me into the workplace at a very young age,” she said. “She taught me the importance of financial freedom and the impact it can have on a woman’s self worth and confidence.

“Smart Works aims to level the playing field so that all women have the tools they need to walk into an interview situation and succeed in obtaining a place in employment, which not only benefits the women themselves but their wider communities.”

Centre manager Kate Murphy said: “This sale is a unique opportunity to visit us in our home, and see where and how the service at Smart Works runs. All items will be available at a discount, to give you a sustainable shopping experience, with proceeds going straight back into Smart Works Leeds.

Chair of trustees Helen Oldham added: “As we negotiate a difficult time with worsening inequality due to the cost of living crisis, this will be a chance for guests at the sale to learn about what will be up to this year and to help us continue to support women across Yorkshire – as wlll as bag some brilliant fashion bargains.”

Last year, the charity supported more than 600 women across Yorkshire, with 71 per cent finding a job within a month of their dressing and coaching appointment.

*The Smart Works Leeds Fashion Sale is on Wednesday, February 22, at Smart Works Leeds, Mabgate Mills, Leeds. Tickets £6.13, available here – buy a ticket – and the sale will be run between 5:30pm-8:30pm. There is free entry to the Fashion Sale to anyone who signs up to participate in the Cycle for Smart Works 2023 charity event.