LIFT Project ‘Thread Counts’ inspires pupils to think sustainably when it comes to fashion
Thread Counts, one of the University’s Learning Innovation for Tomorrow (LIFT) projects led by the School of Education with Fashion Design, has been empowering secondary school students to train their teachers in sustainable fashion.
In collaboration with Cheltenham Education Partnership (CEP), school pupils from across Cheltenham were brought together with PGCE Education students from UoG for a series of workshops called ‘love your uniform’. The 3-day event challenged pupils to design and make wearable fashion items from used or second-hand school uniform shirts.
Participant feedback was very positive with comments including:
“Yes, definitely: it has inspired me to make my own clothes and repurpose clothes that I already have. Also, it has made my love for textiles even bigger.”
“I will show friends and family that they should repurpose their old clothes instead of throwing them away. I will also be more conscious of where my clothes are made.”
Building on this success, Thread Counts is now developing legacy resources for teacher training, to help scale up project partnerships and increase reach in future years, so more pupils can benefit from this learning experience.
Huge congratulations to Amy Lilley Stewart, Secondary Partnership Lead and Margaret McDonough, Course Leader for Fashion Design, and for creating and leading such an impactful project.
This project is linked to RCE Severn – our public engagement hub in sustainability education aknowledged by the United Nations University. Earlier work from Thread Counts was recognised globally as an ‘Outstanding Flagship’ in sustainability education and featured in a UN publication for its contributions to the Global Sustainable Development Goals.