Clothes and textile waste

We are participating in a bra recycling scheme, in partnership with a charity called ‘Against Breast Cancer’. The charity funds pioneering research into new treatments for breast cancer, tools for earlier diagnosis and advice to reduce the risk of recurrence and secondary spread, with a goal of discovering a vaccine against breast cancer.

Please bring your unwanted bras to Peterborough Town Hall. They must be in a wearable condition. For every tonne of bras collected, Against Breast Cancer receives £700 to fund their research.

Peterborough Town Hall is located on Bridge Street in the city centre. It is open Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays).

A new, permanent shop stocking pre-loved school uniform opened on 5 November 2025 at the Root and Rise Community Hub in Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough.

• Donate your unwanted, good quality school uniform
• Swap for different sizes, styles or school brands
• Take the school uniform items you need

All items are free of charge for families.

For more information on location, opening hours and the items accepted, please visit our Second Chance Uniform Shop page.

Baby Banks provide essential items to families with babies and young children who need help. If you have unwanted, good quality baby clothes, consider donating them to a Baby Bank.

You can also buy or sell nearly new baby clothes at Nearly New Sales markets. They take place at various locations throughout the East of England. Visit the Mum2Mum Market website for more information. They sometimes have markets in Peterborough, Stamford and Huntingdon.

Care Zone is a furniture recycling charity set up to provide furniture for those who are unable to purchase it for themselves. They collect second-hand furniture and distribute it free of charge to those in need in the city.

In addition to furniture, Care Zone also distributes bedding, duvet, pillows and towels. They are always in need of supply of these items. They must be clean and in good condition.

Visit the Care Zone page on the Kingsgate Community Church website for information on how to donate items.

We have four WARD clothing banks at our Household Recycling Centre in Fengate. You can donate clothing, bed linen, tea towels and towels regardless of condition. 

Please note duvet inserts, pillows and cushions are not accepted.

The Recycle Now website has a look-up tool for nearby clothing and textile recycling points.

Consider donating unwanted, clean and good quality clothing to a charity shop.

Some fashion retailers accept clothes in store for recycling. Check the retailer's own website to see if they offer this service and how to drop off clothes.

It's also not just fashion retailers. Retailers selling bedding, towels, curtains and other soft furnishings may also offer similar schemes. Check their websites for more information.

Repair Cafes are places where volunteers with skills of repairing things can meet with people who need things repairing.

Usually, Repair Cafes cover items such as clothes, bikes, furniture, toys and electricals.

View the Peterborough Repair Cafe's Facebook page.

There are some well-known brands that operate websites where you can buy, sell or swap second-hand clothes.

Hosting a Swish event helps to:

• Reduce fast-fashion waste and black-bin waste
• Support families by offering free access to clothing
• Encourage responsible consumption and circular-economy habits
• Bring communities together through practical sustainability initiatives

A typical Swish event involves:

1. Participants bringing clean, good quality clothes, shoes or accessories
2. Items are sorted and displayed on rails or tables
3. People browse and take home items they like – free of charge
4. Remaining clothes are weighed and donated to charity partners where possible
5. Calculating the carbon saving (borrow our Swish kit to use the scales!)

Items to consider when organising and running a Swish event:

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.
• How many people are you going to invite?
• What is the venue's capacity in terms of people?
• The timing for your Swish event depends on your audience.

Refreshments

• Will you offer refreshments?
• If providing refreshments, make sure you offer varied dietary options and label refreshments with any allergens they may contain.

Equipment

• How are you going to display the clothes, shoes and accessories - tables, racks etc?
• See the dropdown box on this page for borrowing a Swish event kit from us at the council - this contains racks, hangers, laundry bags and more!

State what items people can and cannot bring

Set rules from the beginning:

• Decide what items you want people to bring to the Swish event. It doesn't have to just be clothes, shoes and accessories. 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, weighing items, 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 allowed to take to give everyone a fair chance.

Publicity

• Ideally start publicity around six weeks before the event
• 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? It is worth contacting them ahead of your event.
• Consider whether you could use any of the council services to help you recycle any items.

About our Swish kit

Thanks to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership, we now have a dedicated Swish event kit available for use. The kit has been developed to support the running of a professional, well-organised clothes-swapping event. The kit includes:

• 5 clothes rails
• 90 hangers
• Clothing category signs
• 1 foldable or ‘magic’ full-length mirror (portable and hangable)
• Laundry / strong weighing bags
• Luggage scales (to weigh clothes before and after the event to estimate carbon-footprint saving)
• Bunting
• Sustainable fashion display materials

Who can borrow our Swish kit

The Swish kit is only available to borrow within Peterborough. We can lend it to schools, community groups, organisations and businesses who are organising a Swish event within Peterborough.

How to borrow our Swish kit

To check availability and reserve the Swish kit, please contact our Recycling Education Team by emailing recycling@peterborough.gov.uk.

We only have one kit available. It is free of charge to borrow.