Supporting sustainable fashion in Gorton

We’ve been supporting communities all over Manchester to make better choices for our city and our planet. From improving green spaces, to making our stuff go further and educating others through talks and workshops, there are lots of ways to help local people work towards a greener future.

We worked with Valery Touchet from VT Creation to support her free sustainable fashion workshops, running at Gorton Central.

During the sessions, Valery taught the participants a variety of skills, from how to amend their own clothes to creating garments from different materials which are donated by local supporters.

“Learning how to mend clothes is such a valuable skill to have, it saves money and can be a quick easy thing to do. The women really enjoy the sessions and it’s great to see how far they’ve come!”

Through Valerie’s teachings, 67% of participants had repaired an item of clothing that would’ve been thrown away. Participants said that this gave them the confidence to repair more garments in the future over replacing with new clothes.

In total, 10 people took part in the 12 workshops, while 20 people took part in Valery’s clothes swap events and climate conversation sessions. As a result of the item swaps and clothes being repaired rather than thrown away, the project saved 761kg of carbon.

Many also enjoyed the project because it gave them more connections in the area and improved their mental health, with many participants calling the sessions ‘relaxing, therapeutic and educational’.

Karen, a regular participant, also praised the workshops for teaching her how to use a sewing machine and giving her a place to go during her retirement:

“I have a sewing machine at home but I’ve not been confident enough to use it, but now I am. The ladies I’ve met are really nice too”