Sustainable Fashion in Schools

Bringing Sustainable Fashion to schools across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

This year Sustainable Fashion Week was sponsored by the Charity Retail Association and inspired the development of our Sustainable Fashion in Schools initiative.

“As a local charity we are always looking for ways to engage with and be part of our local community. When we found out about Sustainable Fashion Week we thought this would be an ideal opportunity for us to offer something back to local schools and also highlight the role of our charity shops in sustainable fashion choices.” says Bonnie Doe, Marketing Manager at the charity.

Our retail and marketing teams worked together to develop a range of resources for each key stage. Invitations were sent out to primary and secondary schools in the area, offering assemblies, workshops and lesson plans on sustainable fashion, looking at environmental, ethical and political themes.

Several local schools have already taken up the offer, with the charity receiving great feedback from students and teachers.

“The charity were insightful, knowledgeable and engaging in their presentation to students. The workshop on sustainable fashion showed not only a vast array of vintage garments, but also gave the students an opportunity to think about how they shop. The passion and enthusiasm shown was inspirational and absorbed by students of all ages. The activities were engaging and creative, allowing students to try on historic garments, and guess the era of clothing. Overall, I would say the sustainable fashion workshop was a great success and I look forward to hosting it yearly,” said Miss Addy, Eco-Lead and Textiles Teacher at Great Marlow School. The school has now set up a donation station with clothes being sent to their local Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity shop in Marlow.

The initiative has also helped encourage other fundraising activities within schools, with Aylesbury High School using it as a springboard to launch a School Fashion Show competition featuring upcycled clothing, donated from the charity’s rags collection, which will fundraise for the charity.

One student from the school commented “I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them talk about fashion and its impact on the environment. It has given my team a great understanding of why it’s so important to upcycle or pass on our preloved clothes and that shopping in charity shops is a great way to reduce clothes waste and raise much-needed money for a worthy cause.”

We continue to work with other local schools and would invite anyone interested in finding out more to get in touch with us via communications@fnhospice.org.uk or by calling 01296 429975.

Over the next year we are also planning to expand the talks to other youth community groups such as Scouts and Guides.

“We have been thrilled with the uptake of our Sustainable Fashion in Schools initiative,” says Lily Caswell, Head of Retail at the charity.  “Being a valuable part of our community is so important to us as a charity and the response has been so positive.  We hope to continue growing the number of schools we are working with, not only to increase students’ knowledge and enthusiasm for shopping sustainably, but also to raise awareness of our charity and the opportunities for young people to fundraise for us or develop important skills through volunteering with us.”