Derry shoppers encouraged to 'Stop! Drop, Shop Preloved’

From today (Monday, 13th February) until Friday, 4th March, Live Here Love Here – a civic-pride partnership from environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful – will bring its Fashion Forever campaign to Derry's Foyleside Shopping Centre to challenge textile waste.

The campaign is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Foyleside Shopping Centre, Inner City Trust’s Fashion & Textile Design Centre, and Foyle Hospice. All will come together to encourage fashion lovers to explore a new relationship with their wardrobes and educate them on why they need to stop dumping clothing they no longer want. 

Recent research from Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has revealed that only 17 per cent of shoppers typically buy second-hand clothing regularly, and over 60 per cent said they would like to explore buying more preloved clothing rather than brand new.

Siobhan Purnell, Tackling Textiles Co-ordinator at Live Here Love Here, said: “We are delighted to bring the Fashion Forever initiative to the North West this year. It is wonderful to have all these partners involved who can each bring an exciting offering to help us encourage people to give preloved garments a second life”.

A clothing bank will be placed outside Boots on Level 2 of Foyleside Shopping Centre, where shoppers will be asked to drop their unused or preloved clothing.

Afterwards, a ‘Pop-Up Preloved Shop’ hosted by the Fashion & Textile Design Centre will open for one day only on Saturday, 4th March. All proceeds from the pop-up shop will support Foyle Hospice's work.

Jacqueline McMonagle, Foyle Hospice Shops Area Manager, said: “Foyle Hospice would like to thank all involved for nominating us as their chosen charity to be part of the ‘Stop! Drop, Shop Preloved’ event. 

“We are very excited to be part of this initiative to raise awareness about recycling preloved items, as we do in our shops daily. All the while, we are raising vital funds that enable Foyle Hospice to deliver specialist palliative care throughout the North West, supporting patients and their families”.

The ‘Stop! Drop, Shop Preloved’ event will allow the community to support sustainable fashion and reduce textile waste by purchasing gently used clothing.

Fergal Rafferty, Foyleside Centre Manager, said: “We are excited to welcome ‘Stop! Drop, Shop Preloved’ to Foyleside; it promises to be an all-inclusive event featuring various styles and sizes along with a mixture of preloved items. We believe this event presents a great opportunity to support sustainable fashion while raising vital funds for the Foyle Hospice”.

In addition, the Inner City Trust’s Fashion & Textile Design Centre will be running textile workshops throughout the event to get members of the public involved. 

Deirdre Williams, Business Development Manager at the Fashion & Textile Design Centre, said: “We are delighted to be working with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Foyle Hospice and Foyleside Shopping Centre to provide a series of repair and repurpose workshops in the centre during this campaign.

"The FTDC is involved in curating, delivering and managing the pop-up shop. We are excited to enhance the message that wearing preloved fashion is normal and should be celebrated, emphasising that upcycling allows for unique creativity.

"We cannot wait to interact with the customers and spread this message of sustainable fashion”. 

The unique and sustainable ‘Stop! Drop, Shop Preloved’ event began today (Monday, 13th February 2023), at Foyleside Shopping Centre.

For more information, please visit foyleside.co.uk or keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

Main Picture: Front, from left, Fergal Rafferty, Foyleside centre manager, Siobhan Purnell, Keep NI Beautiful, Jacqueline McMonagle, Foyle Hospice and Deirdre Williams, Fashion and Design Hub. Included at back are students Chloe McColgan and Bridgeen Graham.