Dress for Success operates in both Sydney and Newcastle, helping disadvantaged women and non-binary people with much-needed clothing items.

The Sydney arm runs a service called Success Works that provides parcels of hand-selected, nearly new clothing for women leaving prison.

"They send an outreach pack to the prison, so prior to release the woman will be able to leave prison wearing some casual clothing that she has put on the form that she actually wants," Dress for Success Newcastle operations manager Shari Bonnette.

"So she can leave prison not wearing her prison greens.

"This service is absolutely crucial because the women are sometimes going into prison during summer time and leaving during winter, sometimes they don't have support outside the prison system.

"This helps them enter back into society and feel respected, they can have some self esteem and dignity."

The recent lockdown has lead the Newcastle Dress for Success chapter to pick up this task and Ms Bonnette said she reached out to the Samaritans to help fill much needed orders - which average about 20 a week.

Dress for Success Newcastle's usual service offers corporate clothing to women looking for work.

"So this one's very different and it's very specific," Ms Bonnette said. "These women want casual clothes they don't want corporate clothing.

"We also have to take into account some of these women might be leaving prison and they might have an ankle bracelet on for parole.

"They want jeans, they want boots and we don't normally stock that type of clothing.

"So it's been really worthwhile to collaborate with the Samaritans who are able to assist us with some clothes."

Samaritans shops manager Pauline Sellers said she was glad to be able to offer a helping hand to the initiative.

"When Shari and I spoke I said you just come here, pick what you need, in the sizes you need and it's such a simple thing for us to be able to give back to them," Ms Sellers said.

"It's a pleasure to know that we can help women trying to get their lives back on track."

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