We are fundraising for equipment to hold LGBTQ+ clothing swaps across the country. People bring unwanted clothes, try new-to-them ones on and swap them for free. Each clothes swap:
- Creates a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to explore style and gender
- Creates community space for connecting with others and making friendships
- Helps improve mental health outcomes by enabling space for the community to come together safely
- The mainly cashless events provide opportunities for economically disadvantaged people to engage with others in their community,
- Reduces the cost of exploring identity and transitioning by providing free clothes and access to trans-specific items such as binders
- Helps the environment by providing a place to bring old and unwanted clothes. This then reduces the amount of clothing waste that goes to landfill due to fast fashion.
So far, eight clothes swaps have occurred in the North of the UK. We need to expand this to cover the rest of the UK. To do this, we must buy the equipment necessary to put on the clothes swaps in each region of the UK. Each set of equipment costs £1000 and compromises of:
- Pop-up changing room
- Foldable Tables
- Hangers
- Mirrors
- Bags for life
- Heavy Duty clothes rails
- Banners and leaflets
- Volunteer management
We aim to raise funds for five sets of equipment for clothes swaps in the northeast, northwest, midlands/Wales, southeast, and southwest areas. This fundraiser is for the northeast, covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.