Clothes Aid comes to the rescue of London Fire Brigade
Melanie May | 26 February 2016 | News
With not all of the clothing donated to charity fit for re-use, Clothes Aid has come up with an unusual way of using the donated items it can’t export as normal.
It has contributed more than ten tonnes of used clothing to London Fire Brigade’s ‘Exercise Unified Response’ exercise, which takes place between Monday 29 February and Thursday 3 March.
The emergency scenario is the largest of its kind to take place in London, and over 2,000 volunteers will wear the clothing donated by Clothes Aid. The charity has been stockpiling ripped or damaged clothing since last summer for this purpose.
London Fire Brigade’s ‘Exercise Unified Response’ has been a year in the planning and takes place across several locations including Littlebrook Power Station, near Dartford tunnel. All of London’s emergency response organisations including local and national authorities will be involved in the exercise, along with specialised teams from across the UK and from Hungary, Italy and Cyprus.
London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner, Peter Cowup, said:
“The clothes provided will play a key part in ensuring this exercise delivers high levels of realism for participants and this, in turn, will assist them to practice the skills, procedures and strategies that are necessary to ensure an effective response to a major emergency.“
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.