The recipients of the Country Road Climate Fund. Source: Supplied
Australian fashion retailer Country Road will put thousands of dollars towards an Australian Made test pilot, a protection program for endangered birds, and a toolkit for farmers, as a result of the first grants from its philanthropic Climate Fund.
In October 2022, Country Road set aside $1.5 million for the first-of-a-kind fund, to provide cash grants over the next three years for emerging businesses, social enterprises and innovative projects that help positive climate solutions for the fashion industry.
The first three recipients of the grant funding were revealed today, selected from a pool of 40 applications, with a total of $547,000 to be shared between the projects.
As reported by SmartCompany when the fund opened for applications, Country Road was expecting to provide up to $500,000 in each year of the fund’s initial three years but was clear it would be an ongoing initiative for the brand.
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“It’s a philanthropic fund … driven by the brand; it’s not funded by a specific garment or anything within the business. This is an ongoing thing that people can expect to see from us,” Country Road brand sustainability manager Fabia Pryor told SmartCompany at the time.
Circularity in focus with Mud to Marle
Country Road, which is owned by South African retailer Woolworths Holdings, was looking for innovative projects to fund via two streams – an incubator one for those in the early stages and an accelerator scheme for more mature projects – and across four pillars or categories of biodiversity, circularity, innovation and First Nations-led practices.
Geelong-based project Mud to Marle, which is being led by social enterprise Full Circle Fibres, fits into the circularity category and will receive $147,000 from the Country Road Climate Fund to trial an end-to-end manufacturing process for wool and cotton entirely within Australia.
The collaborative project involves Deakin University, Geelong Textiles, Geelong Dyeing, wool grower Ridgehaven and Australian Super Cotton, which will work together to turn low-value wool products, which may previously have been sent to landfill, into high-value yarn.
The Mud to Marle team. Source: Supplied
The project aims to lessen the amount of waste wool that gets discarded each year because it hasn’t met quality standards for the textile industry, while also supporting local producers and low-impact production methods.
As part of the grant, Country Road will support the project as an industry mentor and a percentage of the funds will be used to tell the story of the project and what has been learned through the process.
Protecting endangered birds with Trust for Nature
Another $200,000 from the Country Road Climate Fund will go to conservation organisation Trust for Nature, which will work with wool growers in the Northern Plains of Victoria to better protect and increase the grassland habitat for a small population of birds called the Plains-wanderer.
The team of Trust for Nature. Source: Supplied
It is estimated to be only between 250 and 1000 of the birds in the wild in Australia but Trust for Nature plans to partner with the region’s wool growers on native grassland management, so wool production can continue alongside conservation.
The $200,000 from the Country Road Climate Fund will go towards a conservation covenant in the region, as well as knowledge-sharing workshops, land management and communication around the project.
Providing tools for farmers with Landcare Australia
Landcare Australia will have access to $200,000 from the Country Road Climate Fund to create a ‘toolkit’ for wool and cotton growers to better engage in the green economy.
Landcare Australia team. Source: Supplied
The toolkit, which will be co-funded by Landcare Australia will help these business operators “understand the potential benefits of planting native vegetation on their property to not only sequester carbon, but also to enhance biodiversity,” according to Landcare Australia CEO Dr Shane Norrish.
Next steps
Country Road managing director Elle Roseby said on Thursday the retailer is looking forward to working with the three finalists in delivering positive change “at the grassroots level”.
“We believe that partnerships are key to tackling industry-wide challenges and driving deep, long-term change,” she said in a statement.
This year, the application judging panel – composed of Yatu Widders Hunt, general manager of Cox Inall Ridgeway; Dr. Helen Crowley, managing director of Pollination; Fabia Pryor, brand sustainability manager at Country Road; and Aleasha McCallion, co-founder of the Circular Economy Textiles Program at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute – also gave an honourable mention to the Thamarrurr Youth Indigenous Corporation for its Remote First Nations Community Fashion and Textiles Project.
The Corporation has said it hopes to apply to the Country Road fund again in future years. Applications will open again in October and interested parties can register their interest here.
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