COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Our local manufacturing operations aren't just great for our customers and the local economy, they also help with our commitment to community support.

 

DAYS FOR GIRLS

Since 2020 we've partnered with Days for Girls, donating time and expertise of our fabric cutters to cut out the special waterproof fabric for their reusable menstrual pads. Many young girls around the world don't have access to personal hygiene products, which significantly limits their access to educational continuity. Days for Girls Australia provides their DfG kits and important hygiene and well-being education to girls in need around the world. In 2023, Sharon and David sponsored 2 students and 1 seamstress through CRST in Cambodia who are in partnership with Days for Girls.

 

SISTERWORKS

We are now partnering with SisterWorks, a local Melbourne Social Enterprise that provides skills, language and life training to newly arrived migrants, refugees and asylum seeker women.

By donating our remainder fabric bolts, we are able to support this valuable training and ensure that our surplus fabric stays out of landfill.

 

FITTED FOR WORK

As a community-focused business we are also partnering with another local non-profit, Fitted for Work.

The organisation collects donated clothing, mostly gently worn garments from the general public, and creates capsule wardrobes for women in need to be able to attend interviews and create that much needed great first impression.

Our ongoing donation of end of line surplus garments helps to provide these quality capsule wardrobes, adding a special treat of the inclusion of brand new clothing. The women who receive these capsule wardrobes can then attend job interviews with confidence, enabling them to secure employment and turn their lives around.

And, with women in their 50s and 60s now in the fastest growing group of homeless people, we are proud that our garments can help provide dignity to women across Australia.

As a brand, our philosophy and reason for being is to help women feel good about themselves and their choices. And, by providing new clothing to Fitted to Work, we are able to extend that goal to women in need.

 

ROTARY PASSPORT CLUB OF MELBOURNE

We have established a partnership with the Rotary Passport Club of Melbourne who work with community groups in need, both here in Melbourne and in several developing countries where women are often significantly disadvantaged. By donating our unsold clothing through a verified network, we are helping women in need develop confidence and improve their lives.

As this partnership develops with added projects, we will share our stories of impact via our social channels and via the Our Donations page on our website.

 

ONGOING COMMUNITY SUPPORT

In addition to our key community partnerships, we support a range of other institutions and groups through corporate donations and campaigns over the years, such as The Doherty Institute, Lifeline, Rotary National Flood Appeal, Rotary Australia's EndTrachoma project, Breast Cancer Network Australia and many others. Here is a link to the Our Donations page for more information.

 

SCHOOL COLLABORATIONS

We have recently partnered with some of our local schools and community groups to provide fabric offcuts for art projects. This helps to foster creativity in young people by providing a variety of materials and at the same time means that our fabric offcuts are being repurposed rather than discarded into landfill.

We will regularly share any updates and creations that are crafted from our donations on our social channels.

To date we have donated fabric offcuts to:

• Hume Anglican Grammar
• Dingley Playgroup
• OLSH College
• St Geralds Christian College
• Heatherton Christian College
• Boomerang Bags

 

ACCREDITATIONS

 

ETHICAL CLOTHING AUSTRALIA

As a family business we recognise that without our people we would have no business at all.

Achieving ECA accreditation was an important step for our local manufacturing operations, demonstrating our commitment to ensuring that the people in our supply chain are treated fairly and equitably in safe working conditions.

The Ethical clothing Australia accreditation and labelling system is a joint business-union initiative aimed at assisting local textile, clothing and footwear businesses to ensure that Australian workers making their products receive their legal minimum wages and entitlements and are working in safe conditions.

 

AUSTRALIAN MADE AND GROWN

All our Australian manufactured products are accredited with AMAG, which is why you'll find the familiar 'Skippy' logo on many of our products, giving you the peace of mind that your garment is genuinely Australian-made and supporting local workers and community.

 

WOOLMARK CERTIFICATION - HEDRENA

Our Hedrena label proudly carries the Woolmark certification, which guarantees traceability through the supply chain and that the wool meets exacting quality standards. The Woolmark Standards rigorously test products for wool content, colourfastness to light, durability, laundry performance and colourfastness to liquid. When a wool garment carries this mark, you can be sure that you are purchasing a product of the highest quality.

 

ISO:9001 2015 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - FELLA HEALTHWEAR

Our Fella Healthwear range must perform and protect in the most challenging of circumstances, maintaining the health and safety of those working on the frontline. To ensure that our health wear garments meet these needs in helping to save lives, we have attained ISO:9001 certification.

ISO:9001 is a management system we are certified in, supplying health wear to the medical and health sectors, as well as the broader community. We conform to our quality policy, values and mission standards, while also fulfilling obligations set out by industry and governing bodies.

 

TGA APPROVAL 

Our Fella Health Wear scrubs and gowns are classed as medical devices, non-sterile, attaining approval under the Therapeutic Goods (Medical devices) Regulations 2002.

Under this approval we declare conformity to procedures including manufacturing details, washing instruction and correct fabric content. Our adherence to these procedures gives peace of mind to those in the Allied health industry who rely on our products to do their jobs safely.