Charity clothes swap to promote sustainable approach to fashion

A charity clothes swap is taking take place in Slough for International Women's Day next month.

The sustainable fashion initiative will be hosted by Slough BID and Slough Anti-Litter Society for residents to swap garments in aid of the charity, Target Ovarian Cancer.

A diverse selection of pre-loved clothing will be on offer for attendees as well as educational workshops on sustainable fashion practices.

Chair of Slough Anti-Litter Society Tirza Meinema said: “I am excited to host the event to promote recycling and reduce textile waste. It's also a great opportunity to find unique and gently used clothing items at a fraction of the price.”

Organisers said the clothing swap event aims to promote the circular economy model and a sense of social responsibility.

Rifat Iqbal-Khan from Slough BID marketing and events added: “By embracing clothes swaps, we not only refresh our wardrobes but also renew our commitment to sustainability, one outfit at a time.

“350,000 tonnes, that’s around £140 million worth of used but still wearable clothes go to landfill in the UK every year.”

The event on Saturday, March 9 will take place at the Ping Pong Parlour in Queensmere Shopping Centre and starts at 1pm.

Tickets for the event are £5 and include participation in the clothes swap and tea, coffee and cake, with all proceeds going to charity.

On arrival, attendees can hand in a maximum of ten clean, gently used clothing items in exchange for tokens.

A workshop called ‘Style and resilience’ will take place at 1.30pm, followed by a panel of speakers on ‘Inspire inclusion in 2024’.

Among the panellists are the co-founder of Asian Star Radio and community group Knit

Your Socks Off, Sbba Siddiqui, style coach Claire Giacobbe of ‘I Got Style’ and Samina Hussain, co-founder of breast cancer support group Sakoon through Cancer.

From 2.30pm, guests can spend their tokens on ‘new to you’ pieces of clothing.

Visit www.antilitter.org.uk/swap for further details.