A local partnership between Southend foster carer, Jo Joscelyn and the team at the HARP shop in Broadway West shop in Leigh-on-Sea is helping support foster families across Southend while giving thousands of unwanted clothing items a second life.

Jo, a foster carer for Southend-on-Sea City Council, has recently received an award recognising her Outstanding Contribution to the Foster Community.

The initiative began following a conversation with Jenny White, shop manager at Broadway West, after Jo explained that many children entering foster care arrive with very little clothing. At the same time, the shop was struggling to sell large volumes of children’s clothes donated by the local community. Together, they developed a simple but impactful solution.

Jo now collects sacks of clothing from the shop for £5 per sack – generating more income for the charity than textile recycling collections while also providing affordable clothing for local foster families. She carefully sorts and bundles the items by age and gender before distributing them free of charge throughout the foster community. To date, Jo and Jenny have helped rehome more than 5,000 items of clothing.

Jenny said: “It all started with a conversation. Jo mentioned that many foster children come with literally nothing and I said how little kids clothing we are actually able to sell in store, so the upcycling partnership was born!”

She added: “Jo is an absolutely lovely lady, and we feel so lucky to play a small part in supporting the amazing work she does for foster children locally.”

The initiative is particularly in need of teenage clothing, with demand for good quality items for older children continuing to grow. Members of the local community are being encouraged to donate suitable teenage clothing to help support young people entering foster care.

Jo said: “I’m blown away by the support of Jenny at the HARP shop and the local community in supporting the local foster community. I have a list of 75 local foster families, and I often make their day distributing the clothes to those who really need them. Children grow so quickly from babies upwards, so this is a perfect example of upcycling at its best.”