As eco-friendly initiatives in our village gather momentum into 2020, January sees “The Great Big Ruddington Clothes Swap”. It is being run by community-minded High Street business The Bottle Top in conjunction with The Co-op.
It will begin with a week of donations of unwanted quality women’s clothes, shoes and accessories, for which you will receive vouchers. Then there’s a Sunday afternoon event at St Peter’s Rooms where you can use these vouchers to “buy” other people’s items.
Any stock that’s left over after this event will be donated to the ShareWear charity – which provides emergency clothing and bedding to people in Nottingham who are currently in crisis.
Gwen Eyre tells us: “I was looking to put on a village event in line with my new role as the Co-op member Pioneer for Ruddington and Clifton. Over the last few years I’ve become more environmentally conscious and thinking more about the impact my shopping habits have on the environment. I have read many articles and news stories about the devastating effects of fast fashion both in terms of environmental damage and impact on people living in the developing world. One of the statements that stuck with me was ‘the most sustainable clothes are the ones you already own’.”
Gwen says she then began looking at the contents of her own wardrobe: “I started to feel guilty at the 10% of items hanging up unloved and unworn. The clothes I bought which I wasn’t 100% in love with, the ones that I was going to alter but didn’t get round to, the ones that I’ve just fallen out of love with. Just as I was thinking all this I saw the ‘Toy Swap’ at the Bottle Top. After the event I asked Alex (Preston) how it went and if she thought a Clothes Swap was a good idea. It turned out she was also thinking of doing one – so we combined forces!”
The ‘Clothes Swap’ itself will take place on Sunday 19th January from 4pm to 6pm. However people are being asked to drop off their items to the Bottle Top during the preceding week. This will give Gwen and Alex chance to make sure all the items are of sufficient quality, that they’re clean and not in need of repair.
“How it Works” is fully explained on the poster below:-
All funds from the £2 entry fee will be used towards ‘period boxes’ for the Ruddington and Clifton areas – which is a trial scheme around ‘period poverty’ in which red plastic boxes containing sanitary products will be placed in public toilets.
Gwen adds: “I hope everyone will benefit. Ideally everyone will be able to find a couple of items suitable for swapping and take home something they love in return. We really hope the event will be fun and cheer up a drab Sunday in January!”
Organisers confirm that those who’d like to attend Sunday’s sale, but have no clothes to donate (and therefore will receive no vouchers), will instead be able to “buy” swapped items for £2 each.
If you do have unwanted, good quality items, please remember to drop them off at The Bottle Top at 2 High Street, Ruddington, any time between this Saturday, January 11th and Friday January 17th – clearly labelling them as CLOTHES SWAP. Once Alex and Gwen have sorted them for suitability to “sell”, at the event on Sunday January 19th in St Peter’s Rooms you will be allocated up to five vouchers to spend – at a “cost” of one voucher per item.
