Academic Contact: Lisa Trencher

Keep Britain Tidy says that 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every 5 minutes, equating to £140 million in value. We need to find a way to express the extent to which Smart Works provides a viable alternative for those items of quality workwear that still have life left in them (using accurate and current sources) 

Interns will research the role Smart Work plays in prolonging the life of a quality garment, how clothes can be donated and how in doing so supporters enable unemployed women to benefit. This will involve translating what we do into a series of impactful statements for multiple stakeholders to speak authoritatively to the role Smart Works plays in fashion sustainability, and ensuring maximum appeal to unemployed women, clothing manufacturers and retailers, social media and business influencers, and the wider fashion world  

You’ll collaborate with the wider Smart Works team (staff, stylists and wardrobe volunteers), and donors to share the draft proposition before finalising it with the SWGM Chair.

We require 2 students to deliver the project culminating in a written report containing the deliverables above and a presentation with stakeholders including the SWGM Lead Trustee and Lead Volunteer for Fashion & Wardrobe, an existing fashion retail partner, a recognised fashion sustainability leader and a member of the MMU Fashion / Employability team. The project is sponsored by the Chair of SWGM and will be predominantly online research and proposition development.

Students will conduct online desk research to firstly create the correct fashion sustainability “footprint” that Smart Works can legitimately claim to participate in or influence and from that point build a compelling proposition, for multiple stakeholder communications:

• Clothing manufacturers / retailers – the benefit to their brand of donating unsold sale stock to Smart Works to use in dressing unemployed women ahead of an interview and starting work
• Clients – the quality of available clothing and the part they as beneficiaries play in extending the life of high- quality work wear that has been donated to us
• Smart Works Greater Manchester – clarity on the value of extending the life of garments such as what it saves the planet in terms of CO2, what it saves vis the expense of sending items to landfill, disposal costs, what it can do positively for a brand’s reputation etc.

We would also like to launch the outcomes of this project at a SWGM “Inspiring Tales” event in late June in Manchester city centre, the event to be designed and led by the participating students.

Dates: The internship will take place between May and June 2022 and require 2 days / week for a maximum of 6 to 8 weeks

Expressions of Interest: In your 250-word statement on why they are applying please could you summarise how you will go about conducting your research, how you will frame the context of the SWGM claim to be part of the wider fashion sustainability conversation, and what you might explore as part of creating a compelling proposition.

Number of places available: 2