Oxfam Online

Hello Beautiful People!

On Saturday, myself and the lovely Amy from Red Head Raw headed over to OxfamOnline’s ‘Wastesaver Hub’ in Batley, as part of ‘Students at the Heat of Hud’ run by Huddersfield Student Union, in aid of National Student Volunteering Week. Oxfam Online is where Oxfam sells a ginormous selection of fabulous preloved clothes and accessories, including a large number of unworn designer garments such as Burberry and Ralph Lauren.   

 After a welcome talk and a quick briefing, we donned our snazzy pink volunteer shirts (they looked a treat with the ginger hair let me tell you) our first job of the day was to photograph items of clothing so the images could be uploaded onto the online store. 

Amy and I were in charge of tops which were modeled by our lovely headless manikin Belinda (yes we named the manikin and yes we made a number of childish comments whilst manhandling her into some of the clothes and yes we are aware of how immature we are). This was probably my favourite activity of the day and I could have happily spent the whole time we were there just snapping pics of Belinda (I’ve made that sound weird now, I'm so sorry).

Our next job was to sort stock into categories (tops, dresses, coats etc.) paying particular attention to ‘on trend’ items (highlighted by some snazzy moodboards) and keeping our eyes peeled for vintage and designer items. We were so busy rummaging through the barrels and getting overexcited by Burbury Jackets, Valentino shirts and all the cashmere (so much cashmere) that neither Amy or myself managed to take any pictures of the sorting process! I must confess I got way to over excited by the huge box designated purely for Barbers Jackets (someone buy me one please!)

After a short break for lunch our next task was listing a selection of silk scarves on to the store’s database. This is the job that makes all the money, as once an item has been listed it can go live on the website and is then available to be purchased. During the course of the day we managed to list enough scarves that when sold, would make around £400 for Oxfam and in doing so help people in need across the world. Pretty impressive stuff!

The last job of the day was to make up craft bags to sell on the Oxfam Etsy page. Oxfam don’t waste any of the material that comes through their doors, so absolutely nothing goes to landfill. Anything that doesn't make the cut to be sold online either goes to the pop-up festival shops, Oxfam bazaars across the globe or as in this case, any scrap material or damaged clothing gets turned in craft packages that can be bought to Etsy and upcycled into wonderful new creations.

I had an absolutely fantastic time with Oxfam learning all about how the charity works and it was brilliant to see what goes on behind the scenes.

 A massive thank you to Oxfam Online for having us, in particular the staff and placement students as Batley and also to Huddersfield Student Union for organising the trip. 

Do go and check out the Oxfam Online store, you never know what gems you might stumble upon!

Love

S

xxx

Photos by yours truly, with a select few courtesy of Red Head Raw (I can't remember which ones because I'm awful and muddled the files)