YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s donation of its Premier Delivery Service fleet to serve as Volunteered Vehicles for local charities has been extended to both Italy and Hong Kong. In addition, its London commitment to seven local Age UK charities has been expanded to include a second initiative, the Emergency Designer Network (EDN). The Volunteered Vehicles initiative is designed to support local charities in their mission to deliver essential supplies to vulnerable communities.
In Milan, Italy, the new MR PORTER fleet of zero-emission electric vans, which are due to become operational for same-day deliveries later this year, has been donated to the Italian Red Cross. The donation will support the charity’s national programme: “A time for kindness”, which serves vulnerable people during this critical time. The Volunteered Vehicles will allow the Red Cross committee of Sesto San Giovanni to deliver food and essential supplies to the elderly and other socially isolated local communities, as the charity adapts under intense pressure to fulfil their main objective – to prevent and alleviate human suffering.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP is also extending its support to Hong Kong local charity partner, ImpactHK, to facilitate the delivery of food packages and essential supplies to the homeless. The day-to-day services of ImpactHK benefit the homeless by providing them with a rehabilitative support programme, offering counselling, financial and nutritional advice, and job opportunities. Their ultimate goal is to help homeless people in Hong Kong settle into employment and their own homes. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s donation will support the charity in fulfilling its mission to deliver food and supplies to those in need during this time, across various drop-off points in Wan Chai and throughout impoverished areas of Hong Kong island.
In the UK, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s Volunteered Vehicles initiative will support the Emergency Designer Network (EDN), pioneered by London-based designers Holly Fulton, Phoebe English and Bethany Williams, winner of YOOX’s The Next Green Talents in 2019. The initiative is coordinated by connector Cozette McCreery. The volunteer-led collective is galvanising local UK manufacturers and designers to produce stocks of key PPE garments such as robes, scrubs and masks, with the support of Make It British and Fashion Roundtable. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s Volunteered Vehicles will provide logistical assistance to EDN, helping to transport raw materials and finished products to hospitals for use on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP also continues its recent partnership with seven local Age UK charities in London. The Group is offering use of its Volunteered Vehicles fleet to deliver essential supplies across the following London boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, East London, Enfield, Camden, West London and Lambeth. The services of these charities benefit the elderly by preventing malnutrition and ensuring essential upkeep of health and wellbeing, as well as relieving the anxiety of reduced access to food and medicines while staying at home.
During this critical time, all of these organisations are working tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable groups have access to much needed essentials. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP’s Volunteered Vehicles donation is immediately operational in response to the unprecedented level of need which is challenging resources in London, Italy and Hong Kong. A similar initiative is being finalised in the New York area, with further details to follow over the coming weeks.
This commitment is part of a string of initiatives from YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP to help its communities around the world. It follows YOOX NET-A-PORTER’s recent care package of 100 laptops for Italian school children, in response to the Italian Ministry of Education’s call for hardware. In addition, the Group created a pack of digital education webinars for the Ministry’s digital education learning platform, to show how digital can be fully and easily integrated into the home-schooling experience.
