Laundry delivery service teams with up Lambeth Council to lend interview clothes to job seekers
On February 8th 2023, ihateironing hosted a donation and collection event at the Brixton Tate Library to provide employability support to residents of the area. This marked the relaunch of the Brixton Library Workwear Scheme, in which the on demand laundry startup collaborates with Lambeth Council to provide support for those seeking employment on an ongoing basis.
Over the past few months, the London laundry service has been collecting donations from its customers, and has built a collection of high quality professional clothes that are readily available at the Brixton Tate Library. The initiative has received support from businesses around the city – with donations from the Battersea Power Station as well as Deloitte UK.
During the course of the day, several job seekers borrowed outfits for upcoming interviews and registered for library cards – which also gives them access to countless useful resources at the Brixton Library including CV help and access to computers.
Beyond the formal suit and tie, the initiative also featured a wide range of outfit combinations. The event showcased some of the Workwear Scheme’s inventory of blazers, trousers, shirts, dresses, skirts, jackets, ties, shoes, and accessories.
An initiative like this will help people look and feel confident in who they are, and that’s exactly the push they need to perform well for their interviews and make a good first impression.
The inventory is permanently stored at the Brixton Tate Library, and has a designated space where job seekers can try on the outfits and find the perfect fit for them.
Representatives from local organisations like Bounce Back Project attended the event and borrowed clothes for their job seekers, and have formed a partnership with ihateironing to provide further employment support to the individuals it helps. DIVERT is an early intervention project within Bounce Back Project that aims to reduce offending by directly engaging with 18-25 year olds to divert them away from crime and into a positive path.
Matt Connelly, founder and CEO of ihateironing, came up with the idea of the partnership after seeing the reach that the Brixton Library and local organisations have to members of the local community.
“We’re lucky enough to have a generous customer base who are ready and willing to give us their previously loved items to be repurposed for a great cause, and to have a network of dry cleaners who are happy to professionally clean the clothes for free and make them look brand new again.” said Connelly, “Partnering with the library meant that we can directly get that support to the people of the local community who need it.”
Connelly reiterates the positive uptake of the relaunch: “We’ve already had job seekers borrow clothes out for their interviews and have started receiving good news about people who made it to the second stage of the application process. We’re excited for more and more success stories to come out of this initiative.”
For those that would like to get involved by donating, ihateironing is utilising their network of drivers and dry cleaners to collect formal clothes from customers in CR7, SE19, SE20, SE21, SE22, SE23, SE24, SE25, SE26, SE27, SW16.
For job seekers looking for professional interview clothes, ihateironing has set up a form to make it as easy as possible for people to request exactly what they need and make the most of the initiative.
Following the support that the initiative is receiving, ihateironing hope to expand their efforts to cover more London boroughs and reach job seekers across the city in the near future.
For more about ihateironing and Brixton Library Workwear Scheme, please contact
To donate clothes to the scheme, please visit this page.
To ask to borrow clothes (and give details of when you need them, your size, and what you’re looking for) please submit this form.
