We have completed the “In Good Style for Your First Job” workshop series delivered as part of the Clothing Bank. The initiative brought together practical preparation for entering the job market, professional image, environmental responsibility and real support for young people becoming independent. We are proud of everything we achieved together with our partners: the Clothing Bank, the First Job Support Programme Foundation and PUNKTUS – the Support Point for Young People Becoming Independent in Warsaw.
A first job interview, a first CV, a first day in a new workplace. For many young people, these are natural stages of growing up. For young people becoming independent after leaving children’s homes, foster families or families facing difficult life circumstances, this moment can be a much greater challenge. They often lack support, experience and suitable clothing, and sometimes also the belief that they can make a good impression and be taken seriously.
That is exactly why, over the past several years, we developed the “In Good Style for Your First Job” workshops. They were about much more than providing clothing. They were meetings, conversations and exercises; preparation for recruitment; work on self-confidence; and building the sense that a young person has every right to enter the job market with their head held high.
As part of the initiative, we worked with the Clothing Bank, the First Job Support Programme Foundation and PUNKTUS in Warsaw, among others. PUNKTUS is a support centre for young people leaving care, run by the Warsaw Family Support Centre. It is located at 15B 11 Listopada Street in Warsaw’s Praga-Północ district and also includes a permanent Clothing Bank organised in cooperation with the First Job Support Programme Foundation.
The most important part of our work was the “In Good Style for Your First Job” workshop series. During the sessions, we prepared young people for their first contact with an employer. Participants learned how to create a professional CV, prepare for a job interview, talk about their strengths and navigate workplace situations. The workshops combined practical knowledge, exercises, conversations and individual support.
The programme also included mock job interviews, work with educational materials and feedback exercises. This allowed young people to practise situations that often cause stress before meeting a real employer, giving them a greater sense of security and better preparation for their first professional challenges.
Participant makeovers were also a very important part of the project. Stylists, make-up artists, hairdressers and barbers helped young people prepare for a job interview or their first day at work. The aim was not to force anyone to change. It was about bringing out their confidence, presenting a professional image and giving each young person the feeling: “I’m ready. I can give it a try.”
Each participant also had the opportunity to have a professional CV photo taken and choose suitable workwear. Items provided included suits, blazers, shirts, dresses, skirts, shoes, accessories, bags, jewellery and basic personal-care and cosmetic products. As a result, young people left the workshops not only with knowledge, but also with a practical package that could help them immediately in recruitment or during their first weeks at work.
The Clothing Bank also had an important environmental dimension. Clothing donated to the initiative came from public collections and from employees of companies, corporations and institutions. We promoted the circular economy, sharing in fashion and waste reduction. Items one person no longer needed could become the beginning of a new path for someone else.
Our workshops and mobile Clothing Bank travelled to many places across Poland. We visited Płock, Warsaw, Kielce, Poznań, Łódź, Wrocław, Kraków, Lublin, Radom, Złoty Stok, Świdnica, Wyszogród, Gdańsk and Włocławek, among others. Each place meant new meetings and conversations, prepared CVs, selected outfits, photographs and moments when young people began to look at themselves with greater courage.
Between 2019 and 2025, the Clothing Bank organised 44 in-person workshops across Poland, supported 495 young people, collected 20,000 items of clothing and travelled 15,000 kilometres while delivering the project. Behind these numbers are real people and real change.
Today, the “In Good Style for Your First Job” workshops have come to an end, but their impact will stay with us for a long time. We are proud of what we built together: a network of partnerships, mobile support, a permanent space in Warsaw and hundreds of young people who received not only clothing, but also knowledge, attention and encouragement to keep moving forward.