SERC hosts seven sustainable fashion workshops for Great Big Green Week

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) Enterprise, Entrepreneurship & Environment team received funding from Great Big Green Week to host seven sustainable fashion workshops during the week of action.
By KathrynMcKenna
Published 17th Oct 2022, 17:45 BST
Updated 17th Oct 2022, 17:45 BST
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The Great Big Green Week is a nationwide celebration of action on climate change, taking place across the UK from 24 September to 2 October to support activities to protect the planet.

The workshops were facilitated by two local sustainable fashion businesses, Titanic Denim and Sew Ready, and by SERC Art and Design lecturer Keri-Ann Ross.

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Lisburn Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) also provided some support including a link with local environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, who delivered a talk on Fast Fashion Environmental Impact.

Joanne Templeton (LCC), Sarah Hoppé (Founding Director Sew Ready), Siobhán Purnell (Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful), Keri-Ann Ross (SERC Art and Design Lecturer & Student Company Mentor) and Natasha Lloyd (SERC Senior Innovation Advisor)Joanne Templeton (LCC), Sarah Hoppé (Founding Director Sew Ready), Siobhán Purnell (Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful), Keri-Ann Ross (SERC Art and Design Lecturer & Student Company Mentor) and Natasha Lloyd (SERC Senior Innovation Advisor)
Joanne Templeton (LCC), Sarah Hoppé (Founding Director Sew Ready), Siobhán Purnell (Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful), Keri-Ann Ross (SERC Art and Design Lecturer & Student Company Mentor) and Natasha Lloyd (SERC Senior Innovation Advisor)
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The activities were organised to promote sustainable fashion – providing participants with information and skills to mend, transform and upcycle the clothes they no longer can or want to wear, to give them a second life and reduce the amount of fashion ending up in landfill.

MLAs Emma Little-Pengelly and Paul Givan visited Titanic Denim’s Friday workshop.

Lizzie Buick, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, comments: “At SERC, we were delighted to secure funding from Great Big Green Week, to host a range of exciting workshops on sustainable fashion techniques.

SERC Skills For Life and Work students Aimee Lavery (Lisburn) and Seini Ledua (Lisburn), and Sophia Burns (member of public)SERC Skills For Life and Work students Aimee Lavery (Lisburn) and Seini Ledua (Lisburn), and Sophia Burns (member of public)
SERC Skills For Life and Work students Aimee Lavery (Lisburn) and Seini Ledua (Lisburn), and Sophia Burns (member of public)
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"We had brilliant uptake with almost 90 participants attending workshops and the sustainable fashion talk.

"Participants said they greatly enjoyed the workshops, with many opting to adopt more sustainable clothes shopping and recycling habits, which is fantastic news, as this was the motivation for organising the workshops.

"A big thank you to our workshop providers, SERC Art and Design lecturer, Keri-Ann Ross, Sew Ready, and Titanic Denim, and to the provider of the talk, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.”

The workshops are also part of a sustainable fashion competition and exhibition SERC is running in collaboration with LCCC. SERC’s Lisburn Campus students are being challenged to take an old piece of clothing and mend, transform or upcycle it for the chance to win prizes kindly donated by Cookstown Textile Recycler, including two first prizes of £100; a second prize of £50 and £25 for the third place.

Shortlisted pieces will be displayed at Island Arts Centre as part of an exhibition to mark European Week for Waste Reduction in November. Visit www.serc.ac.uk

Related topics:SERCParticipantsMLAs