The Cotton On Foundation is the Cotton On Group’s philanthropic arm, dedicated to empowering youth globally.

We believe that quality education is critical to ending extreme global poverty. Today, approximately 59 million primary aged children are not currently attending school worldwide. This is a statistic we’re doing everything we can to change. We work directly with communities in need, delivering quality education projects in Uganda, South Africa, Thailand and Australia.

We recognise that to make a sustainable and lasting impact that helps to reduce global poverty, we need to address all factors that contribute to systemic poverty. Driven by our child centric model, A Child’s Journey focuses on delivering quality education, and removing the barriers to education that children currently face, ensuring they have a brighter future full of opportunities and possibility.

In November 2007, we arrived in Mannya village, Uganda.

Known to be an area rife with HIV/AIDS and deemed “Mission Impossible” by its local diocese, the community needed help. A lack of education, basic infrastructure and healthcare facilities had led to a village in desperate need of a helping hand. What started as a simple donation to complete the build of a healthcare centre in this small African village became a life-changing partnership with the people of Southern Uganda and the newly founded Cotton On Foundation. Since then, we’ve grown our partnerships to communities all over the world.

Thanks to the support of our passionate team members, customers and ambassadors, since 2017 the Cotton On Foundation has raised over $85 million to help reduce global poverty.

In 2018 we were able to:

Establish 3,200 educational places

Provide over five million meals to students

Australia

Support three Mulka Centre initiatives for primary and secondary students

Support two Learning On Country workshops

South Africa

Break ground on the construction at our first South African school built at Ethekwini Primary School

Uganda

Build 40 new classrooms

Support 41 students through university

Install five large scale water tanks, bringing our total to over 3 million litres capacity

Launch our W.A.S.H. education programs, focused on providing clean water, toilet facilities and hygiene education in schools

Thailand

Roll out the Quality Education Model Globally, with teacher mentoring and development workshop

To learn more about a Child’s Journey, check out our 2018 Field Report on the Cotton On Foundation website, here.

How do we do it?

Cotton On Foundation products are sold in our 1,500 stores globally, and 100% of proceeds from each of these sales go back to our global projects. In partnership with Cotton On Group team members and the incredible generosity of customers across our seven brands, we work with the people of these communities to create
healthy and sustainable futures for them and their families.

Visit the Cotton On Foundation website to learn more about our projects.