With support from
CCF’s Swish Kit has all you need to run a fun event that tackles waste and the climate crisis by providing an alternative to fast fashion and over-consumption. The Kit is free to borrow and CCF offers 45 min on-line training on ‘How to Run a Swish’. At the bottom of this page are resources to help you with planning and publicity.
The Kit makes running a Swish easy and includes all the equipment you need including rails, hangers, publicity banners, mirrors, etc. If you’d like to do a ‘How to Run a Swish’ training and can’t see one coming up on our Events page and would like a quick 1:1 training, then please email nicole@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org to arrange a session. Our Kit was purchased with funding from South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Community Chest Fund and Swishes around Cambridge City have also been supported by the City Council’s Sustainable Cities fund.
Swishes are brilliant community-building events that can be good fundraisers. Swaps can be run between friends and family, by community groups, schools, colleges, local authorities and workplaces. To date, PTAs, green groups, Cambridge colleges, sixth form colleges, the British Antarctic Survey and companies like Abcam and Cambridge University Press have borrowed the Kit. The smallest events involve around 40kg of clothing and 30 people, the largest like the one held annually in Histon attract 300 swappers who might swap ¾ of a tonne of clothing, shoes and accessories in an afternoon!
The clothing and textiles industry produces around 10% of global carbon emissions and is the world’s second largest industrial polluter. Clothes swaps are a practical way for local communities to take part in the circular economy/sharing economy at a grassroots level. They provide an easy viable alternative to buying new clothes (perfect for those on a low income), whilst also providing a way for people to recycle clothes easily, reducing the risk of clothing contaminating recycling waste streams.
We have a variety of resources available on our website (see the bottom of this page) to help you get started such as How to Plan and Run a Swish. When you’ve decided you’d like to run one and have a date in mind, check the calendar at the bottom of this page to see if the Kit is available – if it is email nicole@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org to book it. The Kit can fit in anything but the smallest car and is stored at our offices near Cambridge North station.
We are a registered charity (no: 1127376) and always need funds to continue our work. We’d strongly encourage you to collect donations at your Swish. If you can contribute to CCF’s work we’d be very grateful – thank you in advance for your support. Please donate here.
