Merchandise given a new life for charity

08 Aug 2018
Upcycle project volunteers

Blankets, chemo caps and toys were the results of a weekend workshop where staff and students volunteered to upcycle old and off-brand merchandise for charity.

UNSW’s commitment to social responsibility was on display last Sunday, 5 August, as staff members from Creative Services (Division of External Relations) and 25 student volunteers turned out alongside 2CH radio and Sewing for Charity at The Reginald Murphy Centre in Kings Cross to upcycle old and off-brand merchandise into meaningful charity items.

With a selection of items donated by 2CH listeners and UNSW t-shirts donated by Student Life and Development, our student volunteers cut, trimmed and sewed the items into a collection of blankets for the homeless (to be donated to Wayside Chapel), chemo caps for cancer patients and toys for children’s hospitals.

Andrew Abou Zeid, event organiser, recent UNSW graduate and Designer in the Creative Services team, was overwhelmed by the interest the project has generated in such a small amount of time, with undergraduate, postgraduate and international students all represented on the day.

“Firstly, I must give a huge thank you to all the volunteers that joined us on Sunday. I’m very excited about the interest and impact this project has had from both students and staff around campus,” he said.

“It’s great for us to be looking more closely at how we handle waste and continue to shift towards more sustainable and socially responsible methods like upcycling, especially engaging our students and wider community.”

Particularly heartening for Andrew and his team was the number of first year students putting their hands up to be involved in the initiative. Mohammad, a first year Mechanical Engineering student, and Adithya, studying a Bachelor of Commerce, were both excited about the positive impact the event would have.

“It’s my first semester over here and it’s pretty much the first uni experience I’ve had,” said Adithya. “It was pretty good [being able to help those in need].”

“We did a lot of good stuff today,” added Mohammad. “We made a lot of blankets and stuffed toys for the children... we did our part for the community.”

The UNSW Upcycle Project was launched in June 2018 with the aims of reducing waste, giving back to the community and safeguarding the UNSW brand by reducing the amount of off-brand merchandise in circulation.

If you’d like to participate or donate your old merchandise for future events, please fill out our Upcycle Project Merchandise Survey.

If you’re unsure if your current merchandise is off-brand, view our UNSW logo quick guide video.

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