The Big Swap is a big success: 03/02/10

The Big Swap

On Sunday, along with Sky and Tower Hamlet Homes (THH) we launched our first event as part of a new and innovative reuse and recycling initiative called ‘The Big Swap’.

The event took place at The Central Foundation Girls School in Tower Hamlets and local residents were invited to swap things they no longer wanted, for things they did instead of throwing them away. ‘Swap’ stalls were set out for clothes, fashion, books, DVDs, toys and bric-a-brac.

What happened on the day?

In total The Big Swap received over 380kg worth of donations. Any leftover items were given to two charity shops, Spitalfields Crypt Trust and Help The Aged and a few items of clothing sent for textile recycling.

As well as swapping unwanted items and taking away something useful for free there was the opportunity to meet local community and environmental organisations. THH Waste Education Officers attended the event and residents from the Malmesbury Estate hosted a stand to let people know about the activities they run.

Fun activities took place during the day including a fashion workshop with experts offering top tips and demonstrating how to make a fashion statement by wearing recycled clothes. There was a competition to win free Sky +HD for a year which was won by a Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) resident.

Local school students got involved

The Central Foundation school students helped throughout, manning the swap stalls and helping to complete event evaluation questionnaires with the attendees. Aisha Mazunder, a young reporter from the school received a mentoring session with the Media Trust, arranged by Sky, in preparation for the event so she could cover it on behalf of the school.

Why did we run the Big Swap?

We work closely with a wide range of organisations and communities to support positive environmental behaviour change and attitudes towards sustainable living.

The Big Swap was the perfect venue for people to swap unwanted Christmas presents for something they really wanted. Global Action Plan and Sky organised the event because we wanted to create a fun and sociable way for people to do something for the environment by making sure unwanted gifts didn’t end up being dumped in the bin.

Trewin Restorick, Global Action Plan CEO

Want to get involved in future Big Swaps?

Any external Tower Hamlets based organisations that are interested in hosting a stand at future events or becoming active partners for delivering this event please contact Edel Fingleton, edel.fingleton@globalactionplan.org.uk or edel.fingleton@towerhamletshomes.org.uk 07825 151 043.