Labour Behind the Label Trust

Labour Behind the Label Trust, a UK-registered charity established in 2014 with roots in the 2001 Labour Behind the Label movement, serves as the charitable fundraising arm dedicated to advancing the rights and wellbeing of garment workers worldwide. Its core mission focuses on relieving poverty, promoting Universal Declaration of Human Rights standards, and raising awareness of ethical issues in the global fashion supply chain, tackling exploitation like poverty wages, unsafe conditions, forced overtime, and union repression. Centring worker voices—predominantly women—it emphasises worker-led change, international solidarity, and pressuring brands and policymakers for living wages, safe workplaces, and accountability, often partnering with networks like the Clean Clothes Campaign.

The Trust funds research, public education campaigns, advocacy, solidarity actions, and policy interventions that deliver measurable improvements in pay and conditions for garment workers and dependents in Asia, Europe, and beyond, including UK efforts like Leicester garment sector support. Beneficiaries include frontline NGOs, grassroots worker groups, and aligned initiatives confronting supply chain abuses, with grants covering project and connected core costs.

Eligible applicants are limited to UK-registered charities and community groups based in England or Wales; it does not accept unsolicited applications, instead identifying partners through networks, primarily supporting small to medium organisations without strict income thresholds. Grants typically range from £2,000 to £20,000 (averaging £5,000–£10,000), decided at quarterly trustee meetings with no fixed deadlines or open calls.

It excludes capital projects, emergency relief, unrestricted non-charitable activities, and direct political lobbying beyond charity law. Distinctively, it channels UK resources into global justice struggles, prioritising rights-based, structurally transformative work aligned with its theory of change rooted in collective action and empowerment.