Feeling swish: the Eastbourne clothes swap helping the town with its climate change efforts

The Eastbourne Swish will be held on March 21, at Leaf Hall from 9.30am to 1.30pm. Guests will bring clothes languishing in the backs of their wardrobes and swap (or ‘swish) them for other people’s donations.

Though it might sound like it, organiser Jules Anderson is keen to emphasise that this is more than just a boot sale for clothes.

She wants The Eastbourne Swish to be a cultivated, but friendly, space, designed to help guests find something they will fall in love with.

The mother of three said, “This isn’t a jumble sale - I want people to take this seriously. People should get the sense that they’re giving a new lease of life to something that’s really been loved but no longer has a home.

“I want the garments to have their own stories, and for the people who pick them up to continue those stories.”

As a result, participants are only allowed to donate five reasonably high-quality items to help make sure The Eastbourne Swish presents a meaningful alternative to buying clothes on the high street.

Though this is the first event, Jules hopes swishing will eventually become a staple of the Eastbourne calendar. She has plans to host four swishing events a year, marking the turn of the seasons with an eco-friendly chance to clear out the drawers and find a new look.

The Eastbourne Swish has been a learning experience for self-confessed ‘control freak’ Jules.

She describes herself as a professional organiser, with experience in the commercial cleaning industry. She runs a professional decluttering service called Sorting Out Space, which helps clients take command of and organise their sometimes chaotic homes.

So Jules is used to organising spaces, but she is less experienced when it comes to the environment. For her, the Eastbourne clothes swap has been an opportunity to learn more about the environment.

The idea for the swish came as a response to the APDO (Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers) spring cleaning initiative, which asked members to think up a project to help the environment. For Jules, this has acted as a window into the world of environmental activism.

She said, “It really made me more aware. I was so busy before - with work and bills and family - I hadn’t stopped to think about what was going on in the world. So I’m kind of educating myself as I do this.”

No bad thing, given that high street fashion takes such a hefty toll on the environment. Oxfam statistics released last year revealed Brits buy up to two tonnes of new clothes every minute.

The emissions produced by farming for materials, putting the items together in factories and, then, eventually, transporting the goods halfway across the world, all eventually add up.

So, by the end of any given month, the environmental impact of all those new clothes is greater than that of flying a plane around the world 900 times.

Those are big, national numbers, and Jules knows that swishing is only one of many solutions.

However she says the Eastbourne Swish is not just about helping to solve the climate crisis. It is about starting a dialogue, getting people to repurpose their old clothes, rather than buying them new.

She said, “It’s not about numbers or profits, it’s about starting a conversation which I hope can and will continue.”

With links to the Eastbourne Eco Action Network and plenty of positive traction on social media, the Eastbourne Swish is set to make a real splash when it arrives.

Jules said, “The response has been really humbling.

“I’ve made so many new friends!

“It just goes to show that when people come together and start something, it will snowball.

“That’s what movements do. That’s what people do.”

To keep up to date with The Eastbourne Swish, visit: sorting-out-space-sos.business.site/