On 21st January 2024, we held our first Stowmarket Clothes Swap. Dee from Second Coming Clothing partnered up with Volunteers of Stowmarket, to pull off this rather successful event. The word spread very quickly throughout Stowmarket and surrounding villages as we were soon met with over 100 attendees throughout the day. The team were in awe of the atmosphere, which community spirit and kindness was at the forefront of. Many made new friends and were asking strangers for opinions on potential outfits – giving everyone the perfect new icebreaker. The hall was converted, with table tops and rails filled with shoes, accessories and clothing – which was then categorised into Mens, Womens and Childrens items. A massive thankyou to Helen from The Osier Cafe, who donated delicious cakes for our Café which was run by our wonderful Volunteers.

How does it work? The Stowmarket Clothes Swap is a FREE event which is hosted in the Redwoods Hall at Red Gables. Attendees are asked to bring a bag of their preloved items to the event (Instead of payment), which in return they were then able to search through and rehome any items that they liked the look of. Once you have brought your items to a member of the team, you can then enjoy refreshments from the Cafe whilst we display your items. The main idea behind the event, is eco-conscious decisions and circular fashion, to do our bit to put a stop to clothing going into landfill. *PLEASE NOTE* When bringing up to 1 bag of items, we are asking attendees to choose quality over quantity when choosing what to bring, so consider what you would happily lend to a friend or family member. Whilst we will be joined by volunteers from the Repair Cafe who are available to make small clothing amendments, please avoid bringing stained or badly damaged items. We aim to not be left with any items at the end of the event – so by choosing quality over quantity, this then helps us too.

The next dates for the Stowmarket Clothes Swap will be 20th July 2024 and 20th October 2024. To monitor numbers, tickets may be available closer to the date.