Partner Article

U Hold The Key extends support to help re-donate surplus clothing in the local community

A North East self-storage company is continuing its support for an entrepreneur who is dedicated to re-donating surplus clothing to those in need within the local community. U Hold The Key, part of the Parsons Containers Group, has provided six months of free storage at its Newcastle site to assist Darren Tate in redistributing clothing to people across the region.

The partnership between U Hold The Key and Darren began in 2020 when the County Durham based business provided storage to help him with Suitability, the social enterprise he founded aimed at providing free interview clothing and employment advice to unemployed men in the North East. Since then, Darren has handed over the operation of Suitability to Society Matters, a Community Interest Company, and stepped back from running the initiative due to his other commitments. Now, with renewed support from U Hold The Key, Darren is focused on redistributing the remaining stock of clothing that he has amassed to a wider range of local services, colleges and community organisations— to help those in need throughout the region.

Darren Tate explains: “The initial support from U Hold The Key allowed me to receive and securely store some wonderful clothing for Suitability. Now, this renewed partnership enables me to re-donate items gifted over the last five years back into the community, supporting sustainability and ensuring the clothing continues to serve a greater purpose.”

Over the past five years, Suitability helped over 200 North East men, with 176 successfully securing paid employment. The current support from U Hold The Key is now aimed at re-donating the clothing that Darren still has to local services and organisations that can make use of it.

Ryan Tempest, customer journey manager at U Hold The Key, comments: “We are proud to continue supporting Darren’s efforts to help those in need. This renewed offer of free storage will help Darren re-donate valuable clothing to local organisations, ensuring that the garments find new purpose in the community.”

During the initial collaboration with Darren while he was running Suitability, U Hold The Key also supported the organisation in raising awareness of men’s mental health, encouraging open conversations and support networks to tackle key issues such as male suicide prevention. 

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Lines .