Page 8 • The HERALD • 1st August 2024 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES v Services: Oak Framing, Summer Houses, Porches, Car Ports Call us today for a Free No Obligation Quote 023 8198 0182 Opening Hours Monday-Friday 9.30am to 4pm Hello@newforestoak.co.uk www.newforestoak.co.uk Decking, Pitched Roofs, Sleeper Walls, Garages, Fencing, Furniture, Gates, Mantels, Stables and more…… A&D Morrison Builders Ltd FOR ALL YOUR BUILDING NEEDS • Extensions • Renovations • Alterations • Groundworks • Roo ng • Drives & Patios 07768 599704 or 023 8194 8673 adlmorrison@sky.com Free Estimates • Fully Insured • Based in Dibden Purlieu • Cedral cladding RAGS TO RICHES by Natalie Haigh If you’ve been watching Sewing Bee on BBC this year you’ll have heard some terrifying numbers about how much fabric we throw away in the UK alone and the damaging economic and environmental e ects of fast fashion. Frustrated by the rising cost of new fabric and the amount we throw away of usable material, Langdown local Natalie Haigh, decided to try a new initiative to take some of these waste textiles, and upcycle them into new items for sale. Waterside Cra Club and Tenovus Charity Shop on Hythe High Street teamed up to try making new items from clothing, rejected from the charity shop and destined to become rags. e cra club ran 2, 2 hour sessions earlier this year where they were armed with sewing machines, crochet hooks, knitting needles and glue guns. Tenovus donated the team of 35 women, 6 huge bags of discarded clothing, some of it damaged, out of shape or stained. If sold to the ‘rag man’ the charity would have received around £7 for this amount, as they are paid by the kg. A er 4 hours of working on the project during the sessions and some women taking items home, each new item was created, labelled and sent back to the charity shop for re-sale. Bertie, the Manager at Tenovus, Hythe, created a beautiful window display of all the items alongside a poster explaining what the project was about. A er a few weeks of sales, they heard that the shop had made around £360 pro t from all the items sold, with a further £40 made from the items at another Tenovus location, over what they would have got from the material in its previous state. e new items ranged from fabric covered bottles, crocheted bags, hats and gloves, fabric covered door stops, clothing items, door hanging pockets, cot covers and someone even converted a down jacket into a cool looking messenger bag. Beyond the fact that we’d saved a signi cant amount of fabric from ragging or land ll and helped the charity make more money, all those involved in the project had fun and gained a real sense of achievement. Because the charity created the shop window, and many of the women were local, it was so lovely to feel the real sense of community in the high street as we gathered to see whether the item we had made was in the window or had been sold. Waterside Cra Club will be continuing this project during the summer holidays if anyone is interested, please pop along to one of their sessions, Thursday afternoons at Hythe Sea Scouts Hut, Shore Road, from 12.30pm until 3pm. Rags to Riches event Rags to Riches shop window Rags to Riches final items
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