Help Stitched Up keep stitching through Covid-19

TLDR

To help us continue, and for something fun to look forward to once this pandemic is over, we'd love it if you could Pay It Forward and buy a workshop/event ticket now, to use when we re-open.

Thanks so much for your support!

Stitched Up x

The longer version...

ABOUT US

We’re a not-for-profit cooperative founded in 2012 in Manchester, to share skills and resources that make sustainable clothing more accessible, interactive and fun.

We opened our sustainable clothing hub in Chorlton in 2014. From here we run a programme of activities: clothes making, mending and upcycling workshops, clothes swaps, holiday clubs and more.

This public programme helps to subsidise our community outreach, including monthly Chorlton Repair Cafes (free for the community to attend), plus awareness-raising events, film screenings, volunteering and workshops at community events.

Last year we taught 208 people new skills at our HQ, delivered 68 workshops for groups and diverted almost 1 tonne of textiles and 6,000 items of clothing from landfill.

THE PROBLEM

2020 was starting out really well for us. We had all SORTS of exciting projects and workshops lined up for you all and we were so excited for what the year was going to bring.

And then... CORONA!

Our work is all about bringing groups of people together to share and learn things. So when social distancing measures were introduced we basically had to stop EVERYTHING. This meant we pretty much lost our entire income stream overnight, like so many other organisations who deliver face-to-face work.

We’re missing our classes and groups so much! But for now, we need to look after one another and stay home.

Running as we do on a shoestring budget with very little reserves, the lockdown has left us in an extremely tricky situation, without the ready funds to pay our staff or overheads.

If we are to survive this crisis, we have to think on our feet and completely reinvent the way we work.

OUR PLAN

We hope to qualify for a small business grant from the government, which will secure our team’s jobs for the next few months.

However, with lockdown in some form likely to continue for up to six months, we know that it’ll be some time before our usual income streams recover. So, we need to find a way to secure our building and operational overheads for this period.

With staff costs covered, we want to use our time in lockdown to find ways of delivering some of our work online. AND to prepare an exciting new workshop schedule that’s ready to go live when face-to-face meetings in small groups are possible once more. We’ll be bringing you some amazing activities including natural dyeing, pattern drafting, upcycling, holiday clubs and more.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are reaching out to our community to Pay It Forward and ease our current cash flow problem.

If you’d been thinking about joining one of our courses when this whole thing blows over, we would absolutely LOVE IT if you could make a pledge now, to redeem against a workshop/event when we’re all allowed to meet in person again!

Pledges will be exchanged for a voucher of the same value, which has no expiry date and can be spent on any workshop/event you like.

Our target amount will cover our overheads for three months.

DOUBLE YOUR MONEY

As a nice bonus, any pledge you make will be DOUBLED because this year we’re taking part in the School For Social Entrepreneurs Trade Up program, which matches any increase in our trading income until June. This means a £10 pledge (the equivalent of two Clothes Swap tickets for you) becomes £20 income for us, and a £100 pledge (equivalent of a 4-week Garment Making Course for you) becomes £200 for us.

SUPPORT US IF YOU CAN

We know that these times are exceptionally tough for so many of you too. If you can’t contribute financially, we absolutely understand - sharing or showing your support on social media would be just as awesome too! This campaign isn’t just about the money for us. We want to grow our community and for you to be a part of what comes next! Send us your thoughts, ideas, comments. We are all ears.

We can’t wait to see all of your faces IRL really soon. Until then, we’ll catch you on the internet.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your support.

With lots of love from the Stitched Up Team,

Bryony, Caitlin, Claire, Emily, Jo, Sarah and Sue x