Creative Community Event

 2017 was kicked off for me with something different, as I was asked to take part in a community event run by the group Ashford Undivided at the beginning of January. This is a group of 'community change makers' led by Georgina Cooper ​and Francesca Baker, who wanted to give their local community a chance to have their say in a creative way!
​ My project was just a small part of a very full day of creative events taking place at The Bauhaus Cafe in Ashford town centre. Attendees were invited to take part in various creative projects to help express how they felt about where they live now and how they wanted the community to change for the better. With the affects of Brexit on their minds, how, as mainly young people, would they would like to shape their futures? In small groups they used the arts and crafts workshops to make bold statements of how they felt, for the MP Damien Green to see when he came to speak and to post on their website. MP Damien Green spoke for some time on the subject of the affects of us leaving the European Union and answered many questions, responding to peoples fears for the future.        

 The workshops ahead of me that day were Make a Postcard, Poetry, Using the Uke, Urban Sketching and then the Question and Answer with MP Damien Green and  there was some lovely live music too!     
​I began my project with a short talk about why and how I am creating my own sustainable fashion business. As I was invited to create a project for the event, I wanted to talk a little about recycling, eco freindly clothing and sustainability within the clothing industry. One of the things I talked about was how to be more eco freindly with your own clothing. Top tips included repairing damaged garments, by replacing zips for example, restyling a garment or reusing the fabric from an unwanted garment to make something completely different! I also discussed the pay and working conditions relating to the factories, where many of the cheap high street fashion stores have their garments made. Also up for dicussion was the fact that globally, we consume 30% more natural resourses each year than our planet can replenish, the fashion industry, unfortunately, is also one of the highest poluting industries in the world. Therefore, I decided to create a project using old t-shirts to either recycle into something else, a bag for example or to use the t shirts provided to get everyones individual messages across for the community and government to see!  

Above are some of the group busy creating their t-shirts with slogans that meant something to them. Below left  are some of the items we had for decorating our t-shirts and some inspiration I brought along for everyone. Below right is my t-shirt, showing my own words of wisdom! 

I just wanted to say thank you to Ashford Undivided for inviting me to take part in this positive, creative and community based event and I hope that the messages of the people will be heard. Create a better future!
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https://www.facebook.com/cb1dresses 
 
https://www.facebook.com/AshUnCCC 

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