Clothes and textile waste

Venue and timing

• The location of your venue is very important to attract more visits - consider your local community centre, school or religious meeting place. The venue also needs to have facilities such as free parking, toilets, somewhere to make refreshments plus access and facilities for people with disabilities.
• Make sure your event isn't competing with another local jumble sale or similar event in the weeks before and after.
• The timing for your swap shop depends on your audience.

State what items people can and cannot bring

• Decide what items you want people to bring to the swap shop. It doesn't have to just be clothes. You could also ask people to bring books, DVDs, CDs, kitchenware, gardening items, toys, baby items etc.
• You should provide general guidance for items such as - items must be from households only, they must be fit for reuse, must fit in a car, no electrical items (unless Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)) and no duvets (to avoid problems of dust mites etc).
• You should also have a list of items that aren't suitable to bring - e.g. paint, chemicals, very heavy items, small electrical items.
• Make sure your publicity states very clearly what items you will and will not accept at your swap event.
• Have someone on duty checking that suitable items are being brought in.

Recruit volunteers and assign tasks

• Recruit as many volunteers as you can. Perhaps ask them to help out for an hour at a specific time rather than all morning.
• Brief your volunteers before the event to explain to them what is expected and to point out health and safety things such as fire exits.
• You may need volunteers for helping with publicity, signage, setting up your venue, assisting with the car park, greeting or counting people and explaining how the event works, sorting swappable items into groups, taking photos, making refreshments, helping to clear up, dealing with leftover items at the end.

Risk assessment

• Find out whether your event is covered by the venue's insurance - you may need to take out suitable cover such as public liability, employees (your volunteers) and product liability insurance.
• You'll need to undertake a risk assessment for the event to ensure that your insurance is valid. 
• You may want to set a limit on the number of items each person is allow to take to give everyone a fair chance.

Publicity

• Put up posters in local libraries, schools and surgeries
• Advertise in your local newspaper or newsletter
• Advertise on your local news website
• Ask local press to attend for publicity
• Spread the word via social media
• Ask your volunteers to share event details with their contacts
• Give people enough notice to get as many attendees as possible

Monitor your success

• Keep track of how many people attend your event and the amount of goods swapped to measure your event's success
• This helps motivate your volunteers and gives you something to use if you apply for any funding or write a press release

Deal with leftover items

• You need to plan in advance what you'll do with any unwanted items leftover at the end of your event. You may also need to consider how you'll transport them elsewhere and where you'll store them.
• Could you store the leftover items and use them at a future swap event?
• Can you find other local organisations or charities who might be grateful for the donations?
• Consider whether you could use any of the council services to help you recycle any items.

Planning

• Choose a date and venue
• Think how many people you want to invite
• Let people know when and where your event is and give plenty of notice
• Set rules from the beginning so attendees know what to do and which items they can swap
• Do you need volunteers to help you run your swish event?
• Will you offer refreshments?
• Decide what you will do with any unwanted leftover items at the end of the swish event - store for another event, donate to charity, recycle?
• If you're hosting a larger community swish event, you may need to consider publicity and risk assessments (see the swap event drop down for further guidance)

How it works

• You could, for example, give one token per donated item and then ask swappers to pay one token per item taken
• Ask people to drop off items in advance so you have time to hang them up before the event
• Will you need hanging rails and tables for accessories?