Sustainable ‘Pop-up Shop’ Supports the Local Community

Since January 2023, students from Supported Learning at East Sussex College’s Hastings campus have been running the pop-up project in order to raise money to buy food supplies for charity, Dom’s Food Mission.

Supported Learning students have been visiting various local charity shops in recent weeks, to try and gauge a genuine idea of what clothes to display and sell every Monday in the Atrium at ESC Hastings.

The process involved students asking for clothes donations, pricing them up and then selling them to both college staff and students alike. The money raised by the sale of various second-hand clothes and items not only helped the students to appreciate various benefits of recycling, but also made them realise that the project can be sustainable for the future as well as benefit the local community.

Francoise Cumming, Supported Learning lecturer at East Sussex College, said, “Students successfully created a realistic workplace and opportunities to try out real job roles or elements of them. This meaningful learning activity brought multiple benefits to the students and allowed them to gain exposure to the world of work in a genuine way. They worked on a whole range of employment skills, from communication and money skills to time management, team-work and independence skills.

“An impressive £120 was raised and part of this money was used to buy some food and toiletries to give to Dom’s food mission, which helps feed those in the local community experiencing food insecurity.”

After the initial success of the pop-up show, it is set to return again soon, so keep an eye out in the Atrium for some huge bargains - all for a worthwhile cause!

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