Liveryman and Past Court Assistant David Bennett reflects on over forty years of Charity through Gloves and the astonishing numbers donated!
David was admitted to The Worshipful Company of Glovers as a young glove manufacturer back in 1982 and joined, what was then, the Glove Trade Liaison Committee (GTLC) a few years later. One of the functions of the GTLC, which subsequently became the Glove Trade Committee and very recently the Gloves and Gloving Committee, has been to source and supply gloves on behalf of the Charity Projects Committee for donation to the various charities supported by it. That is a role in which he has been directly involved for c. 35 years.
The Company’s first real foray into the idea of Charity through Gloves started over 40 years ago. The first project involved the development of wheelchair/ pushing gloves designed to help those in wheelchairs as such types of gloves did not exist at that time.
The development work was undertaken by Past Master Renault Beakbane who was involved in the leather trade and whose company designed a glove, known as the “Wheely” in kit form, and by David’s late father, himself a Past Assistant and a member of the GTLC at that time, who developed the pushing glove.
Wheelchair Pushing GloveThis was actually a wrap-around cowhide mitt, with reinforced palm and thumb, with the finger and thumb tips left free, designed for easy donning and doffing - it’s hard to comprehend that up until this point there were no special gloves for wheelchair users.
The world famous Stoke Mandeville Hospital was also involved during the development of these specialist gloves, and the Glovers supplied them to the hospital and its patients. Gloves were also donated to several disabled charities, especially those involved in sports.
Although the Company purchased a small stock of gloves, it was also arranged that both types could be purchased at low cost from Beakbane’s or Bennett Safetywear.
In 1988 the ‘pushing’ glove was presented to members of the GB Paralympic team in Seoul at which Great Britain won 65 gold, 65 silver and 54 bronze medals, finishing 3rd of the 60 competing countries in the medal table. 
A few years later a further type, a sheepskin pilot’s glove with a Union Jack flag on the flap, was presented to the GB Wheelchair Basketball Association.
At about the same time and for a number of years the Company used to provide single gloves to the British Limbless Ex Servicemen’s Association. This would involve contacting various UK dress glove manufacturers and asking them to donate any stocks of sample gloves which were no longer of use to them. This would often generate several hundred gloves, especially as at that time there were quite a few glove manufacturers on the Committee. There are currently three retired or semi-retired manufacturers on the team.
The next main project was for warm winter gloves for the homeless. This was pioneered by PM John Wood when he was Chairman of the GTLC. These were produced initially at John Wood’s own factory (William Ball) in the East Midlands, after which manufacture was transferred to Bennet Safetywear, although now manufacture is now outsourced to Poland.
These gloves have proved to be very popular over the years with homeless charities. Since January 2015 the Company has supplied over 22,000 pairs, including gloves and mitts for children and babies.
The homeless charities also require gloves for their kitchens. Since 2015 we have supplied over 6000 pairs of washing up gloves and 185,000 pairs of disposable gloves, used for catering, first-aid and needle exchange purposes.
The next most popular have been gardening gloves, mainly the crinkly latex covered type of which we have supplied nearly 10,000 pairs since January 2015, along with 1500 pairs of riggers gloves.
Gardening Gloves for Treloar College
Livery Food Initiative Gloves
Other donated gloves have included: barbed wire handling gloves, pond-cleaning gloves, sailing gloves, needle-resistant gloves, chainsaw gloves and even BBQ gloves; the latter, which are manufactured by Bennett Safetywear, are also used by the Lord Mayor in the annual Cart-Marking Ceremony
The Annual Cart Marking Ceremony and are an official spare part, stored in the Emergency Locker, on all Airbus aircraft!
In total, since 2015, the Glovers has supplied over 225,000 pairs of gloves of 35 different types to 51 different locations.
Medical gloves sent to Ukraine via international Health Partners
Cryotherapy Gloves in Hospices
And in the 40 plus years since David joined the Company the total figure is an astonishing half a million pairs physically donated - not including gloves purchased directly by charities themselves with funding provided by the Glovers’ Charity Projects Committee.
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