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14 December 2021
Two Year 11 students from Malvern St James Girls’ School (MSJ), which recently changed its uniform, were keen that, instead of just disposing of its unworn clothes and sports kit, the school finds schools and community groups who may welcome the items.
The school agreed to the plan, and Isobel and Romilly set about finding those groups. They immediately identified nearby Malvern Wells C.E Primary School where Romilly went to primary school, along with other organisations, both in the UK and further afield.
Twenty complete sports kits, including coats, tops, shorts, skorts and tracksuit bottoms, have now been rebadged and given to Malvern Wells. Isobel said, “Recycling was the obvious option to dispose of these clothes, but charity shops are overflowing with donations following lockdown clear-outs. Post Covid, clothing donation banks are currently not exporting. We wanted to find a way that all these clothes did not end up in landfill.”
Romilly said: “We were keen to start with donating items locally; MSJ has always been a big part of the Malvern community and knowing that MSJ and Malvern Wells shared the same colours, navy and sky blue, made it easy. It was a pleasure to return to my old school and see the delight that the new and rebadged sports kit gave the younger children.”
Two days after the new sports strips were delivered, Malvern Wells C.E. Primary School donned their new kit, and won a local hockey tournament. Mrs Earp, Headmistress at Malvern Wells said, “We are simply delighted with our new kit and are so grateful to MSJ and to Romilly and Isobel for organising the kit for us. The pupils loved wearing it for their hockey tournament and I think it improved the team spirit, and ultimately enhanced their performance as they went on to win the Worcestershire West Y3/Y4 QuickSticks tournament.”
The two students raised money within MSJ to pay for the uniform and sports kit to be rebadged with the school’s logo. In the coming weeks and months, organisations from Scarborough to Zimbabwe to Ghana will be benefitting from the extensive rebadging and repurposing project.
The MSJ students said: “We realise that this is a small gesture towards helping the global pollution problem, but everyone knows the strength of small beginnings and the force of partnerships.”
