OG Pop princess, Sporty Spice is cleaning out her closet, and she wants you to do the same. Melanie C has opened her personal archive for the 8th annual Uber x Australian Red Cross Clothing Drive, and the whole thing runs from your phone and your front door.
The big red bus has landed
A fully transformed Uber x Red Cross Clothing Drive bus rolled onto Sydney’s streets to kick off the campaign. It’s hard to miss, which suits a campaign fronted by a woman who helped make the tracksuit a pop culture staple three decades ago.
Melanie’s archive: what’s going
Melanie is donating three memorable pieces, all heading straight to Australian Red Cross Shops:
- The Morning Show Tracksuit. A green and yellow number that was jokingly compared to former Prime Minister John Howard’s famous green-and-gold tracksuit.
- The Roundhouse Sequin Suit. Grey sequins, worn at the Rise Up for the Roundhouse Gala in London with a red sport crop top and trainers.
- A “little (black) Gucci dress.” Straight from her archive, with a nod to her history with the fashion house and Spice World.
Her donations will soon be available through Red Cross Shops across Australia and New Zealand, so one of her iconic looks could end up closer than you think.
She’s also a fan of the shops herself. Melanie says she and her stylist once found a brilliant yellow bomber jacket in the Red Cross Shop in Bondi Junction, which she went on to wear on The Voice. “I love that you never quite know what you’re going to find,” she says.
What’s on: Saturday 17 October
When: Saturday 17 October, 10am to 4pm local time
Where: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney
The tech bit: free Courier pickups through the Uber or Uber Eats app
For those six hours, your doorstep becomes a donation point. No tote bags on the train, no boot-packing, no trip to the shops with a bag that keeps splitting. Wannabe a donor? Here’s how it works.
How to donate from the couch
- Gather your pre-loved pieces into a bag or box, no heavier than 20kg, so it sits comfortably in the boot of a midsize car.
- Open the Uber or Uber Eats app and tap the Red Cross Clothing Drive tile.
- Read through the instructions and hit “book now” to reach checkout.
- Check that “Red Cross Clothing Drive” shows on screen and the drop-off spot is pre-selected.
- If you’re in an eligible city, the promotion should apply automatically, so make sure your Courier trip shows $0.
- Confirm.
Can’t see the tile? Head to the Uber app, tap Courier, type “Red Cross Shop,” pick the first option and confirm.
What to pack
Red Cross Shops are especially looking for women’s jackets, knitwear and tops this year. A simple test: if you’d happily give it to a friend, it’s a great donation. Items should be clean and in great condition.
The shops can’t accept homewares, underwear, or clothing that’s worn out or dirty. A good starting point is anything you haven’t worn in the past 12 months that’s still in great shape.
Your wardrobe, with a plot twist
Think of this as a spring clean with a soundtrack. Here are a few ways to get into the spirit:
- Goodbye, jacket you haven’t worn since 2022. It deserves a second life with someone who will actually wear it.
- Spice Up Your Life, one bag at a time. The knitwear drawer is a good place to start.
- Say you’ll be home between 10 and 4. It’s a Saturday, so you probably will be.
- Move over, clutter. Your wardrobe will never be the same again, and neither will someone else’s.
The (TrackSuited) Bottom Line
Last year’s drive collected almost 125,000kg of quality pre-loved clothing nationally, enough shop-quality donations to stock five Red Cross Shops for an entire year. Donations turn into funding for Australian Red Cross humanitarian programs supporting communities in Australia and overseas.
Celebrity donations tend to move fast, too. Cody Simpson’s pieces sold through the Darlinghurst Red Cross Shop in Sydney within two weeks of hitting the floor, and Chrishell Stause’s handbag found a new home through the Cottesloe store in Western Australia.
Emma Foley, Managing Director of Uber Australia and New Zealand, says the free Courier option makes it “easier than ever for busy Aussies” to get quality donations to Red Cross. Richard Wood, Head of Retail at Australian Red Cross, hopes Melanie leading by example will inspire Aussies to donate quality pieces they’re ready to give a new home.
If Sporty Spice can part with a tracksuit, so can you. Pop it in your diary for Saturday 17 October, fill a bag this week and let the app do the rest.
