Clothes Swap Success at the Torch Theatre

In spring 2023, the Torch Theatre held its first Clothes Swap event at the theatre in Milford Haven. Since then, its recycling and upcycling adventures have been held bi-monthly and have gone from strength to strength.

Clothes Swaps events, which the Torch also encourages users to see as a Clothes Library, are where people bring their unwanted, clean clothes for others to take away. They are good for the environment and good for your wallet. People are invited to browse the clothes in their own time and it all happens under one roof in a relaxed atmosphere.

“It all started in response to a film called Fashion Reimagined which explored how to make fashion sustainable and examined the impact of fast fashion on our planet and its resources,” explained Tim Howe, Torch Theatre’s Senior Manager for Youth and Community.

He added: “We are very lucky that our Clothes Swaps continue to grow in popularity. Ever since our first event we have been lucky to see more people attend each time, and we usually see between 20 and 30 people per event with our latest event seeing 40! So, we have supported nearly 400 people in their efforts to be more environmentally conscious.”

A range of clothes are presented in the Torch Theatre’s Joanna Field Gallery space and people are invited to browse through the clothes and also the art on display.

“We normally have some music playing and offer a chat (part fashion advice part encouragement) through our friendly Torch team and volunteers. You can bring items you want to swap out of your wardrobe, or nothing at all. We invite you to take a look through what’s on our rails or tables and take whatever you want. All the clothes are free, and you’re welcome to stay for a drink at our kiosk, pop a donation in one of our buckets or use contactless at our donation station in the theatre foyer” explained Tim.

These events help the environment by allowing you to donate your pre-loved clothes to other people and avoid sending them to landfill – all the Torch ask is that they are clean and undamaged. By upcycling our clothes there is less dependence on buying new, and as such have less impact on using up the limited resources of the planet.

The next Clothes Swap events will be held on Saturday 25 January and Saturday 29 March. For further information contact the Torch Theatre Box Office on 01646 695267 or click here.