Cost of Living: Children's clothing swap shop outgrows its roots

Volunteer Rebecca Gilbert prepares for the latest village hall swap shop

A cost-saving scheme for swapping children's clothes is hoping to expand from a village dining room to the whole of Scotland.

The woman behind Berwickshire Swap has taken the events to the wider Borders this year - with dates also confirmed for East Lothian in the summer.

Hundreds of families have already benefited from the swaps.

Founder Catherine Goldsmith said: "This could become a national thing, quite easily."

Catherine started Berwickshire Swap in 2019 from her dining room in the village of Reston.

Along with a handful of other mums from the local primary school, they set up a few tables in the village hall and swapped their kids' jumpers, trousers and jackets.

Catherine Goldsmith founded Berwickshire Swap in her dining room

Catherine explained: "It has always been an issue, having to clothe your child while trying to keep up with the growth rate.

"We started in 2019 as just a few mums from school sharing what we had - it gave us the chance to find clothes that fitted our children while getting rid of the clothes that no longer fitted them.

"Modern problems such as the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have increased the visibility of this clothing issue.

"So far, the answer has been to make clothing cheaper, but that isn't the solution - it doesn't help parents and it doesn't help the planet."

During the pandemic, Catherine adapted her project to provide emergency clothing packages for families referred by social services and other organisations.

Funding allowed her to buy new underwear to include in the packs.

Volunteer Emma Finlayson preparing Heiton Village Hall for a recent swap shop

Since the lockdowns ended, Berwickshire Swap has been granted charitable status, gained enough funding to buy a van, and attracted a small team of volunteers.

This month it was also awarded just over £30,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to employ two part-time project co-ordinators to help with the expansion.

Catherine added: "Our first swap event after lockdown was incredible - everyone had been saving up their clothes and needed new clothes to replace them.

"We have grown so quickly since then.

"I'm not sure where Berwickshire Swap will go, but it would be lovely to see Glasgow Swap, Edinburgh Swap and Aberdeen Swap in the not-too-distant future - and families across the country can also benefit from what we have here."

Lianne Drummond has helped Berwickshire Swap grow

Dozens of people took part in their most recent event near Kelso

Currently, Berwickshire Swap has scheduled three events a month for the rest of the year in halls across the Scottish Borders and East Lothian.

Data collected from each event will help plan future expansions.

Lianne Drummond, who is now a trustee of the charity, joined as a volunteer in June 2021.

She said: "I came along to a swap but didn't really know how it worked - my children went home with new toys but I hadn't taken anything to swap.

"I quickly realised what a great idea it was - Berwickshire Swap isn't just about helping families who are struggling, it's about helping everyone, helping the environment, and changing the way we think about clothes.

"When we started asking people for their postcodes when they arrived at swaps, we realised that people were travelling considerable distances for the events.

"That was when we decided to start taking the swaps to them, and expand beyond the halls in Berwickshire."

During their most recent swap at Heiton Village Hall, near Kelso, 36 people took part.

Over the next two months swap events are being held in Reston, Duns, Hawick, Galashiels, Ormiston and Paxton House.