Social Mending Events Volunteer

We Wear The Trousers is a collective empowering people to keep their clothing in active use for longer through events, education and engagement. We believe that in this age of fast fashion, choosing to share, repair and rewear is a political act.

As well as promoting reuse and exploring ‘sustainability’ within fashion, we want to foster an inclusive, community-minded atmosphere at our events; to join people together and create new connections.

That’s where you come in! We need enthusiastic, dynamic and motivated folks to help us grow throughout 2023 and beyond. At our regular ‘Mend with Friends’ events, we’re looking for dedicated DIY menders to share their skills and support participants to learn simple repair techniques. This is not a teaching role- instead, you’ll work alongside participants with varying levels of mending experience, offering guidance and suggestions where needed.

Some experience of mending clothing by hand would be helpful, but not essential, as full training will be provided. Our events are collaborative, supportive, social and relaxed: we’re all learning as we go- and having fun in the process!

All volunteers also have the chance to contribute directly to the collective vision at our team meetings.

At We Wear The Trousers we value the unique skills, passions & interests each individual brings- if there are skills you want to develop we’ll do our best to support you to do so. We believe volunteering should be a positive and productive experience for all.

What you will be doing*:

Supporting our workshop participants to learn simple mending techniques; demonstrating your skills & sharing your knowledge as appropriate (full training will be given)

Providing a warm welcome to participants & answering questions

Promoting WWTT, our mission & events

Helping to set up & clear up after events

Looking after WWTT resources/materials as required

Giving feedback on events & contributing ideas for improvement

*These are examples of the main things we need help with at our events. If you have a particular area you'd like to work on, we can be flexible to suit your needs & development :)

What we are looking for:

Reliability & ability to commit to events in advance

Enthusiasm 

Willingness to develop skills & help others to do the same

Welcoming & approachable, able to encourage and support participants

Non-judgemental, understanding of the needs & circumstances of others

Willingness to abide by our ethics/code of conduct (full training will be given)

You might also have:

Experience of mending clothing by hand & knowledge of various techniques (full training will be given)

An interest in ethics & sustainability within fashion

What you might be looking for: 

Developing existing skills & gaining new ones

Meeting like-minded folk & being part of a supportive & inclusive team

Interacting with the local community to bring people together

Growing an interest in ethics & sustainability within fashion

Sharing ideas to directly contribute to an organisation you believe in

Being part of building a slow fashion community in Norwich

To apply:

Send us a message telling us a bit about yourself & your interest in the role. If we think you’ll be a good fit, we’ll meet for an informal chat & take it from there.

If you have any questions at all, drop us a message & we’ll be happy to help!

We welcome and encourage interest from a diverse range of applicants. If you would like to talk to us about accessibility requirements please get in touch.