Meghan Markle's Patronage Smart Works Is Sending Care Packages to Clients

Bianca Betancourt
·3 min read
Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images
Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

  • One of Duchess Meghan's patronages, Smart Works, is continuing to help unemployed women amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

  • The charity is providing virtual counseling and sending clothing care packages to women who are still searching for work.

  • "The concern is it may not have the same impact as it does face-to-face, but actually our volunteers have been excellent at adapting and getting used to the new way of life and they've been really open to helping us," a Smart Works spokesperson said.

Smart Works is continuing to support its clientele of women break into the workforce, even while the globe combats the ongoing health crisis.

The organization, which is one of the highlighted patronages of the Duchess of Sussex, is a group that supplies unemployed women in need with high-quality interview clothes and interview training. Currently, the organization is continuing to champion and coach its clientele, even while unable to hold in-person meetings.

A Smart Works spokesperson told Hello! magazine that charity is hosting virtual coaching, telephone chats, and video conferencing to continue to assist women, especially as so many people around the world have found themselves in need of jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group is also curating clothing packages to provide women with fully styled outfits for their first job interviews. The Smart Works rep explained that volunteers will find out clients' clothing sizes, preferred styles and color palettes, and what they feel most comfortable in. From there, the volunteers will pool together packages and ship them out with tips and tricks on how to make the best impression for big interviews.

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Supporting and helping clients is the driving force behind everything we do at Smart Works. If a woman leaves us feeling confident and knowing her value then we’ve done our job. ⠀ Even in these uncertain times our priority remains the same - help women feel empowered and able to succeed at a crucial moment in their lives. ⠀ While currently we’re not able to carry on with our face to face dressing and coaching service our community of staff and volunteers have pulled together and found a way to carry on spreading that Smart Works magic. ⠀ Today we began sending out interview care packages to some of our clients. Each pack contains a few special items including something to wear for the interview, our coaching pack and a personal note to help build that all important self belief ahead of the interview. ⠀ However it is delivered, the Smart Works service will continue to empower women and help them as they look to enter the workplace. ⠀ #smartworksmagic

A post shared by Smart Works (@smartworkscharity) on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:11am PDT

"It's working really well, people seem to be really responding to it," the Smart Works spokesperson told the outlet. "The concern is it may not have the same impact as it does face-to-face, but actually our volunteers have been excellent at adapting and getting used to the new way of life and they've been really open to helping us."

Meghan has been a patron of Smart Works since January 2019 and assisted in launching a capsule collection of clothing for the charity alongside namesake brands such as Marks & Spencer, Jigsaw, John Lewis, and Misha Nonoo. In the last year, Smart Works has helped more than 2,000 women prepare and feel confident as they go after their careers.

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