Five years of collections, seventeen years of support
For 17 years, the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild (QMCG) has supported Kairos with donations of clothing and bedding for residents of our Move-on houses. Founded in 1882, QMCG provides clothing and bedding to charities across the UK, distributing thousands of items each autumn.
On 1 October, Kairos’ Maintenance Lead, Julian King, made his annual trip to St James’s Palace to collect this year’s donations. Julian has been making this journey for five years. Here, he shares his experience of the collections and the people who make them possible.
I’ve been collecting clothing and bedding from QMCG for the past five years.
When we go to St James’s Palace, everything is very organised and secure, as you would expect. The police direct you to get your security passes, then show you where to park and wait to be loaded.
It’s great to see the volunteers I’ve met over the last five years. We’ve built great relationships with them. It’s always good to go back.
Even during COVID, when we couldn’t go to St James’s Palace in London, QMCG made other arrangements so we could still collect our donations. I thought that was amazing of them, making sure they could keep their charity going, to help others. The charity just keeps giving, even through tough times.
Everything we get from QMCG is good quality, proper good-name stuff. Over the years we’ve had tracksuits, towels and all sorts of clothing. This year we collected over 30 sheets, over 80 pillowcases and quite a few items of clothing, including joggers, T-shirts and underwear. Everything goes to our Move-on houses so that when new clients move in everything is new on the beds. The clothing is distributed around Move-on to residents who need it.
It’s a great charity, and I’m grateful for everything they do for Kairos.
- For more about the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild’s work and history: qmcg.org.uk.