Knitwear and Thermalwear Manufacturer
Supporting our Communities
We are proud to support many charities in our community as well as overseas.
Our Charity Factory Sale is held in August each year to give financial support to our chosen charities.
There are two charities that are nominated to then share 30% of the factory sale revenue.
Christchurch City Mission
The Christchurch City Mission positively impacts on the lives of thousands of Canterbury people by providing a wide range of social welfare services. They run the city’s biggest foodbank and also offer: emergency accommodation for men and women, addiction counselling for adults and youth, a residential addiction withdrawal management unit, financial mentoring, social work services, learning programmes, and day programmes for men and women. A new transitional housing facility helps 60 men and women a year find permanent housing. People's lives are transformed with their support.
Support for Ukraine
Weft Knitting Company has supplied 4000 merino heavyweight thermals to the Ukrainian army for the last three winters. They have been supplied at cost. The wearers of these thermals place a high value on their ability to survive in sub zero conditions.
The shortfall that is required for the yarn and labour has come primarily from the Ukrainian Association New Zealand and Weft’s annual Charity Factory Sale, supported by public donations. The public have also been providing items such as wheelchairs, walking frames, crutches and warm clothing that is packed in a shipping container and despatched from Lyttelton in July each year. There has been no government funding for this project.
“I will not sit back and do nothing when my company has the ability to make a tangible difference to the soldiers on the frontline defending their country”
Hugh Douglas - Managing Director, quote from a media release in June 2024.
Read more
about our founder and Managing Director, Hugh Douglas, and Weft’s legacy of compassion, community impact, and support for Ukraine
Click through the slideshow below to learn more about the other organisations we support:
180 Degrees Trust
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The 180 Degrees Trust makes a difference in the lives of young people who are struggling in education, constantly making poor decisions, exhibiting anti-social behaviour, dependent on alcohol or drugs, and lacking in motivation. By building meaningful relationships with these young people and using the high country to provide challenges, we initiate a "turn around" in their lives.