Programme: Galway City
WHO Theme: Civic Participation and Employment
Funding Stream: We have applied for a grant from Galway City Council for community development, which will provide funding for the rental of the premises and some of the materials for the workshops. But for now we are just developing and implementing this project.
Resources Required: Community Support, Financial, Premises, Volunteer Staff
Cost: 500 – 1000
Status: Ongoing
Description
Our team has a plan to hold workshops on the topic of upcycling – decorative panels and paintings, home and clothing decor elements made from recycled materials, paper bags, egg trays, second-hand clothing and much more. All these workshops are held on the basis of the Ukrainian community in Galway and the UHUG organization. We also cooperate with various organizations that hold inclusive and integration events to jointly organize and hold such workshops in the Ukrainian community. In addition, our main ideological motivator, Ksenia, is developing a clothing collection for Mokazu Fashion. All things have their own history and each image is filled with elements from different second-hand clothes, which form a completely new and fresh outfit. This show is planned for the Climate Festival in Galway. With a team of older people who are interested in being socially involved, we collect and jointly make beanbag chairs from old clothes, jeans and other things, which we can then rent to companies for use at festivals and events. All proceeds from the rental will be used for further activities within the framework of the project “Old stuff – New Life”
Aim of Initiative
The goal of the project is to introduce the idea of upcycling into everyday life, to focus on creativity and the benefits of reusing things and other secondary materials. This project is extensive and the idea is to show that upcycling is all around us, not just in clothes, just introduce this idea into your head and you will see a lot of ideas and opportunities to contribute to the climate creatively.
Who is it aimed at
This initiative starts with the Ukrainian community in Galway, but it no longer has borders. We work mostly with older women and young people aged 18-25. Now these are multi-ethnic groups. For us it is part of the integration process because all migrants and refugees should be as passionate about the idea of Crimean preservation as the Irish people who accept them.
3 Steps critical to success
- Persistence in our work. To call for possible funding or partnership
- Shering our idea to the masses, making it easy to join the initiative
- stable and systematic implementation of the plan and progress towards the goal
3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery
- lack of funding, respectively, interference for the implementation of the project.
- Clients are organizations that will be interested in cooperation. Having their own budgets, they can independently conduct workshops on the topic of climate, not focusing on a creative approach but on general practice.
- Involving young people and older people in the implementation of the project.
3 Outcomes / Benefits
- We have active cooperation with many organizations, signed contracts, memorandums, and scheduled dates throughout the year. We hold workshops and information sessions on upcycling for them.
- We have a rich collection of clothes made from recycled materials and hold fashion shows, participate in events and festivals in different counties. We replenish the collection, involve young people and older people in the creation.
- We have a set of beanbag chairs that are actively used at street or indoor festivals, and we use the funds from renting the chairs for equipment and materials to develop the initiative.