THE CLOTHING BANK GROUP OPERATES FOUR PROGRAMMES: The Clothing Bank's mission is to empower unemployed mothers through enterprise development. It has four projects that support our vision to inspire, skill and support unemployed South Africans to eradicate poverty in their lives.1. THE CLOTHING BANKThe Clothing Bank skills and supports unemployed mothers to start retail trading micro–enterprises. The Clothing Bank uses clothing ‘waste’ from the fast fashion retail supply chain, as the tool to teach unemployed women how to earn an income, manage their finances and make healthy life choices.South Africa’s major retailers donate their excess stock to The Clothing Bank in return for Enterprise Development or Socio-Economic Development points for their Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Score Cards.The donated clothing is sold to the women in our programme at greatly discounted prices and they then sell the product on for a profit through their micro-enterprises. This income builds individual wealth through the accumulation of assets, both tangible and intangible, and builds our organisational sustainability. Local township businesses also benefit from the ripple effects of a stimulated local township economy.Our beneficiaries go through a two-year programme where they are nurtured and taught business, financial and life skills. We address the need for more business-focused education and support the women through coaching and mentoring as they grow their sustainable micro-enterprises.2. THE APPLIANCE BANKThe Appliance Bank skills and supports unemployed fathers to repair and sell donated appliances.The Appliance Bank provides an opportunity for unemployed men to establish micro-enterprises, using small home appliances as the catalyst for change. We assist men on their journey towards economic stability by teaching them how to fix broken appliances and develop their business acumen so that they can run a business selling the repaired appliances. We also support the men through a comprehensive life-skills programme.3. GROW EDUCARE CENTRESThe GROW Educare Centres social franchise model invests in, trains and mentors women to run high–quality early learning centres for preschool children aged between 2 and 5 years, that are also sustainable businesses.The GROW Educare Centres project empowers women who are currently running community-based early learning centres in disadvantaged communities. These centres are often under-resourced with unskilled teachers. GROW converts these centres, using a social-franchise-scaling model, into highquality centres that are financially sustainable. Our aim is to change the status quo of education in these communities by offering quality and professionalism that has never been seen before.