News From the Hill

Well done to everyone who took part in Ballinamore’s recent Clothes Swap Party.

It was a resounding success with lots of money raised for charity, both local and further away – sorry I don’t have details of the charities – I wasn’t involved in the organisation – only in the admiration of a job well done!

Apparently women travelled for miles to get to the party and it was a cold night so well done to all who travelled, I know that you went home with lots of goodies.

The way that the party worked was that everyone paid an entrance fee and those who brought clothes were given a voucher for each item. Those vouchers could then be redeemed to claim another item of clothing. If you didn’t bring anything to swap you could still buy a voucher in order to get some nice thing for yourself or a gift for someone else.

Everyone involved had lots of fun and said that they would do it again.

Apart from the fact that money was painlessly raised for two charities I think that one of the great achievements of the night was the fact that people who may not have otherwise ever considered wearing “second hand” or “recycled” clothing now have a new attitude as well as a new outfit.

Changing how we think is always life changing – there is no such thing as a little change – every change is important and far reaching……

Nothing has been discarded, any clothing items which were not claimed on the night have been either distributed to a charity shop in the region or boxed – ready to travel to Bosnia as part of a regular clothing run from this part of the country.

So it’s a win win situation:

many people got to declutter which always leaves you feeling great

women got together on a cold winters night to have fun

lots of clothing was saved from landfill or worse – dust gathering!

people learnt an appreciation of a sustainable way to “shop”

lots of women have some lovely new outfits

money was raised for two charities

some women in Bosnia will be a little warmer this winter

it was a success and may happen again – even elsewhere in Leitrim or the North West……..

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