A CHARITY has launched a new clothes recycling swap shop to help raise money to boost the lives of older people in South Lanarkshire.
R:evolve Recycle has been set up by Lightburn Elderly Association Project (LEAP) in the busy Main Street of Rutherglen thanks to £10,000 of funding from urban regeneration company Clyde Gateway.
Anyone can sign up to become a member of the scheme, and bring their unwanted clothes to donate in exchange for points.
These points can then be used to "purchase" something new, completely free of charge, from one of the project’s three Lanarkshire shops.
R:evolve Recycle offers volunteering opportunities to older people who staff the shops and also help families to repair their clothes rather than throw them away.
Textile workshops, which will run from the new Rutherglen shop from February onwards, will be led by skilled volunteers and include knitting, sewing, dress making and up-cycling. Since it began, the project has saved an estimated 19 tonnes of textiles and also a huge 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Niki Spence, Senior Manager, Business and Community Growth at Clyde Gateway, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to help this fantastic project to move its Rutherglen shop to a busier location, which I know will bring it even more customers and even more success.
"There are so many great things about this project: it benefits the environment, it offers exciting volunteering opportunities, and it teaches local people how to mend their old clothes – or swap them - rather than just throw them away, which saves them money too.”
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