Images Magazine Digital Edition May 2018

www.images-magazine.com MAY 2018 images 71 MARKET INTELLIGENCE A ccording to the latest figures from the Charity Commission, there are nearly 170,000 registered charities in the UK. What’s surprising therefore, given the huge diversity of charities in operation, is the ‘one size fits all’ approach taken by some garment decorators when pitching to be a charity’s clothing supplier. Matt Lawley, head of sports events at Bloodwise, recalls his previous experiences with decorators: “I don’t think the typical suppliers that we’ve used before have necessarily understood what we want and what our supporters what. I think they just immediately think, ‘Oh, we’ve got a charity client here. They just want the cheapest, bog-standard materials’. If we’re supplying our supporters with cheap garments, it’s not going to look too good on us if they’re falling apart after they’ve run in them a couple of times, or if it looks shoddy next to Images talks to four very different charities about what they really want from garment decorators. Spoiler alert: it’s not a cheap, wear-it-once tee Charity begins with research explains Matt. “It’s profile-raising, and hopefully the cool, snappy designs show that we’re a relevant charity and that we have a clear message that we’re trying to get across.” The charity has offered what Matt calls an “incentivised sports T-shirt” for at least the ten years that he’s been at the charity, but in recent years it has expanded its offering. “We’ve branched out from running T-shirts to cycling tops to bib shorts to triathlon suits. We’ve diversified to match the broad range of events [that our supporters take part in] to meet their needs. Whatever event they’re doing, we’ve got something that they can wear.” The cycle top is the charity’s most popular item, he reveals. “I think we’ve produced a really good quality, striking design. It’s the one that we get the most demand for, and which inspires people to raise more money so that they can get that top.” someone who’s competing in a great- looking Macmillan cycle top. It’s a reflection of the charity at the end of the day, so we don’t want to be giving out kit which isn’t of a good quality.” Bloodwise – a national charity that funds research into all types of blood cancer, as well as offering information and advice on blood cancers and lobbying the government and other bodies – uses branded garments as an incentive to reward supporters who are taking part in a sports event such as the Great North Run or the London Marathon to raise money for the charity. Once a sponsorship page is set up and the person can be seen to be actively fundraising, they then get given a Bloodwise-branded top. As well as being used to incentivise fundraisers, this practice helps raise the profile of the charity. “It’s also to represent the charity at that event, it’s a visual representation of what we are,”