Creative
It’s Second Hand September; a campaign organised by the charity Oxfam, encouraging people to avoid buying new clothing for the entire 30 days of the month.
It aims to raise awareness of the environmental impact of fashion. It’s estimated almost 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions are produced by the fashion industry and 11 million items of clothing are sent to landfill every week in the UK.
Now’s your chance to take on the Second Hand September challenge, whether it’s buying preloved clothing from charity shops, upcycling furniture yourself or mending old clothes instead of throwing them out, there’s a variety of ways you can get involved.
The Beehive
The Beehive has a huge variety of great items in store ready for you to find. Since all the clothes are second-hand, there's a range of fun things in all shapes, sizes and styles. There will definitely be something just for you!
The Beehive is not just a pre-loved clothes shop, but also a place where women who can’t afford clothing can be referred by local services to come and get clothes for free. It's also home to a cafe where you can enjoy hot drinks and homemade cakes.
The shop (located on North Street) is a Pneuma Church Project and registered charity. For all their upcoming events in Ashford check out: Events – Pneuma Church
DONATE: The Beehive welcome donations and in particular are looking for people to donate new women’s underwear and sanitary products.
Pilgrims Hospice
By visiting The Pilgrims Hospices on Castle Street, you'll find not only sustainable fashion finds but you will also see the fabulous Ashford Unframed Mural!
DEBRA
For furniture finds head to DEBRA on the lower High Street. A great opportunity to refresh your home space, or even use it as a project to upcycle furniture to your style. The store also sells homeware, clothing, books and electrical items.
YMCA
Inside County Square Shopping Centre you can find the YMCA.
Cancer Research
Find Cancer Research on 14 High Street, Ashford Town Centre
PDSA
For all the animal lovers! Find PDSA on 3 New Rents, Ashford Town Centre.
Buy second hand games and tech
Find second-hand technology and entertainment products including mobile phones, video games, DVDs and Blu-rays, computers, digital electronics, TVs and monitors at CEX. Rather than buying new, you can bag a bargain and buy second hand!
You can also trade in your old tech and get some money, rather than throwing them away.
Find CEX on 88 – 90 High Street, Ashford Town Centre.
Buy upcycling old garments, you can not only move away from fast fashion disposable clothing, but also save some money!
Whether it’s jazzing up a blouse with some colourful buttons, adding patchwork to torn jeans or transforming clothing into a brand new garment, the first step is to pick up some sewing supplies from the Ashford Sewing Centre.
Alternatively Emporia has a range of fabulous sewing patterns and accessories, and unique fabrics to make your own garments. Shop online here.
Rather than throwing out items, why not donate them? At most charity shops you can donate:
Each charity has its own donation policies so ensure you check directly with the store.
Donate old furniture
At DEBRA, you can donate pre-loved furniture. Request a furniture collection Furniture collection request | DEBRA UK
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