Join the Big Green Swap Sunday 15th May, 12-3pm, at St Matthews Centre, Malabar Road, LE1 2PD.
Focussing mainly on clothes and children, the event include:
- Children and adult clothes swap (bring clothes in good shape and/or take away things you’ll wear)
- The Leicester Nappy library (who lend out washable nappy kits)
- Basic clothing repair skill share: learn how to patch, take up a hem, replace buttons, darn, or take in a waistband
- Craft materials swap
- Childrens things swap – prams, nightlights, child monitors, toys etc
- Making bags from old saris.
- (NB There is no parking – but the centre is very close to bus stations and on several bus routes).
The event is organised by Climate Action which strive to engage communities in minimising their impact on the environment.
For the Big Green Swap, the local groups involved include
- Leicester Green Guardians, a group of Muslims in Leicester that educate the Muslims about the environment according to the teachings of Islam.
- Quetzal provides 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, that promotes 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 the repair.
- Leicestershire Community Cupboard, that provides 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
What will we be swapping? Clothes – both for children and adults; craft materials; basic clothing repair skills; good quality toys in good condition; and children’s stuff (like baby monitors, changing mats, prams, washable nappies, night lights etc).
Why Quetzal is participating in the Big Green Swap? Quetzal participates in the Big Green Swap to build further connections with individuals and communities in Leicester. Our main work is with women aged 16 and above in their journey towards recovery from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. Initiatives that enhance wellbeing and nurture connections between people are considered primordial to share information about the value of counselling and ways to support survivors of abuse. We also recognise that in times of crisis women and girls are more likely to experience abuse. Minimizing our impact on the environment reduces the risks of violence..
Tell Climate Action today about anywhere you can recommend for repair. Among other things, we’re hoping to make a list of good places in Leicester and Leicestershire where you can get specific things repaired – for example clothes, shoes, rucksacks, watches, electronics, vacuum cleaners, etc.
Climate action is looking for people who would like to do any of the following. Please get in touch with leicesterclimateaction at gmail.com if you’d like to help.
- Help run swap tables
- Teach basic repair
- Film video clips of people wearing and telling the story of old clothes they love and wear.
The St Matthews Centre is in a residential area with almost no parking. It is however very close to bus stops for the following services: 38, 38A, 53, 55, 56, 58, 58A and only a few minutes walk from the bus stations in the City Centre. Please try not to come to this event by car.
Our small but very active events and coalition building working group is behind much of the visible work being done by Climate Action L+L at the moment (Climate and Me, Greenwashing vs renewable energy event, most of our social media- and we’d love more active members! Do get in touch on the contact/get involved page if you’d like to join us.
