Of all the different ways the Deane Apparel team does corporate social responsibility, our community outreach puts the biggest smiles on our dials.

We’re serious about removing plastic packaging, introducing sustainable fabrics, working only with garment manufacturers that meet ethical workplace standards, and so on. But sometimes the real feel-good factor comes from giving time, skills and garments to the people that need them the most and can afford them the least.

Last year, for example, we started donating branded uniforms to Ronald McDonald House Charities in Australia. There’s a natural fit there because we’re a long-standing supplier to McDonald’s in both Australia and New Zealand. But we also love the work Ronald McDonald House does to support seriously ill children and their families, and we back it by providing polos, shirts, bottoms, caps, jackets and other items for the charity’s workers and volunteers across the country. Ronald McDonald House is set up as a customer in our garment management system, which makes it easy for its staff to order garments when they’re needed.

Otahuhu College is another example. This large secondary school, founded in 1931, is only a couple of train stations from our Auckland head office. It is transforming a weed-infested corner of the college into a horticulture area with native plants and a food garden, and Deane recently donated overalls for the students doing all the hard work.  With winter on its way the clothing is a blessing, Malcolm McAllister, the teacher in charge of the project, told us. “Plus,” he said, “the kids love to strut around in their overalls like real workers.”

We give in other ways, too. The Deane team provides design and sourcing expertise to sustainable menstrual products social enterprise Reemi, and every year all our staff have the option of donating a day to a selected charity. There are plenty of different organisations in the Deane community support programme; they all deserve our backing and all of us get a little touch of joy when we offer it.