Thankyou so much to everyone who volunteered, donated, took things, came, spread the word, and made this swap such a success.
Our Big Green Swap was on Sunday 15/5/22, 12-3pm, St Matthews Centre, Malabar Rd, LE1 2PD. Hundreds of people came and took part and we have a vanload of baby and childrens clothes to donate to other local groups.
Focussing mainly on clothes and children, this event included: Children and adult clothes and shoes swap, Craft materials swap, Toy swap, Baby stuff swap and Basic clothing repair.
Why did we organise the Big Green Swap? We want to promote looking after, rewearing and sharing stuff we already have. This means we can buy less and throw away less, reducing our contribution to climate change, and reducing the human and environmental negative impacts of fast fashion. We also want to build community and links between people so we can face climate change together.
What might you start gathering for the swap? It should go without saying, but please don’t bring things to swap unless they are clean, safe, whole and in good condition. In other words things that you would be happy to buy or give as a gift.
The clothes sections of the Big Green Swap will focus on both adult and children’s clothes and shoes, but will also include a small area of accessories like bags, belts and jewellery. Shirts, dresses, saris, abayas, jeans, skirts, headscarves/hijabs, jumpers, coats, trousers, blouses, jilbaabs, jackets, gloves etc all welcome. As always clean, whole and in good condition please. It would also really help if you would sort children’s clothes by age group/size before you come as things are going to be busy on the day!
Craft equipment. In the craft area we welcome materials (eg pens, wool, paint, yarn, beads, sequins, felt tips, card, paper etc) and equipment (eg paint brushes, scissors, knitting needles, easels, crochet hooks, mini-looms, carving tools, etc). In other words anything you use when doing craft activities.
Children’s toys, eg books, board games, balls, marble runs, lego, puzzles, etc. As always clean, whole and in good condition.
Baby stuff includes buggies, prams, slings, nightlights, baby monitors, breast pumps, changing mats, sterilising equipment, etc.) Not car seats, cycle helmets or bedding please. If the item is electrical, please check it works safely before you bring it!
Please ensure anything you bring to swap/give is clean, whole and in good condition. In other words in a state you would be happy to give as a gift. NB There is almost no car parking near the St Matthews Centre, please plan to come by bus, foot or bike on the day. More info about bus, walking and bike options at the bottom of this page.
It’s usually low income and BAME communities, women and children who suffer the most from climate change, both locally and across the world. Climate Action wants to work with other groups as much as possible, both to build community (increasing people’s capacity to cope with climate change), and to get more people thinking about the climate now so we can minimise it. We also want to support the great things other groups are doing. For the Big Green Swap the local groups we’re working with include:
- Leicester Green Guardians, a group of Muslims in Leicester educating the Muslim about the environment according to the teachings of Islam.
- Quetzal, who provide free counselling and support services to empower female survivors’ recovery from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse.
- Leicester Nappy Library, a volunteer run cloth (reusable) nappy library servicing the Leicester(shire) area, promoting the use of cloth based baby items such as nappies and wipes.
- Women for Change, a grassroots group in St Matthews tackling youth violence and working to empower women.
- Leicester Fixers, a community of amateur and professional repairers and non-repairers that work together to mend the broken and learn more about repair.
- Leicestershire Community Cupboard, who provide second-hand clothing and household items for families in need in Leicestershire.
How will the Big Green Swap work? Bring items/clothes with you to swap that you no longer use and/or take away items/clothes you feel you will make good use of. The event is free and you don’t have to bring things in order to take some away. Our basic guidelines for the day are:
- take what you’ll use
- leave stuff for others
- give things you would want to have
- make a donation if you want to
- please don’t come if you have Covid.
- The St Matthews Centre is in a residential area with almost no parking. Please try not to come to this event by car. See the bottom of this page for ways to come by foot, bus and bike.
Can you sew on a button, patch your jeans, or mend your favorite shirt?
We’ll have people at the Big Green Swap teaching simple clothing repair, so do bring something with you which you’d like to learn to mend. The more we wear and mend our clothes, the more memories they carry, and the more valuable they become to us – as well as reducing climate change as a result of not buying new clothes.
Come and learn a new skill.
Please do tell us today about anywhere you can recommend for repair. We’re putting together a list of places recommended by our members where you can pay to get repairs done – for example clothes, shoes, rucksacks, watches, electronics, vacuum cleaners, etc. See it here – and do email us (leicesterclimateaction @ gmail.com) if there is somewhere local you would recommend to be on the list.
Please try not to come by car. There are really good foot, bus and bike links for the St Matthews Centre, and we need to reduce car use as we tackle climate change. Nearby bus stops, walking routes and hire bike docking stations for the St Matthews Centre are marked on the map below. Why not try an alternative to driving for this event?
- The following bus services do run on Sundays and have stops within one minutes walk of the St Matthews Centre: 53, 58, 58A.
- The Haymarket Bus Station is a 13 minute walk, and Humberstone Gate is even closer. Suggested routes are marked on the map below with thin back arrows.
- There are bike racks outside the Centre if you cycle.
- Leicester City’s electric bike scheme has a docking station right next next to the Centre and others within a few minutes walk, so you could try this out (but be warned, if you aren’t already part of the bike hire scheme, you need photo ID, a bank account, and a smart phone helps. You’d want to sort it out beforehand, not at the last minute). More info on the city electric bike hire scheme here.
