January 2023 - March 2023

The Re-Create room was set up as well as we could with what we had and we must admit, it looked pretty great! We wanted to make a flexible space that could be used for as many different things as possible. This to suit both our mixed needs, but also accommodate our growing community of volunteers, artisans and groups. In February we held our first talks on the subject “Sustainability in the textile and fashion industry”. These were combined with a fantastic workshop by Sam Wolf, using felted jumpers saved by us at ReDo. We dare say that this was a success. Apart from our normal jumbles, now almost part of our monthly routine, the big thing was "The Makers Festival" at the forum. Nine full days at The Forum with a space that was everchanging and growing. And we made it work! We held workshops, both our own and together with artisans from our network. Rag rugging, crochet classes, japonese mending and t-shirt upcycling. People of all ages learning about upcycling and remaking. We exhibited clothes with history, we showed what we had saved and how it was done. And we talked. We talked to 100s of people and we opened minds. To say that are proud of what we achieved is an understatement. Remember that we are just a small team of 5 people and a handful of volunteers with extremely limited resources. We are 100% self funded. With that team, in quarter 1 2023, we saved over 800 kilos of clothes, shoes, handbags, accessories, bric-a-brac and books from being wasted. Just imagine what we could do if we had more support!