The Church St-Bags of environmental change project, is a unique way of helping the environment and encouraging the re-use and recycling of material objects through art and creativity. Hand-made and crafted, bespoke shopping and gift bags through the use of old newspapers and magazines will become the next best thing. Each bag is carefully designed and put together by locally trained mothers, who takes pride in the new skill attained. The shopping and gift bags have their own uniqueness and a story to tell. It is created with passion and dedication in helping to raise awareness of the importance of taking care of the environment, combating pollution and saving the wildlife. The handmade gift bags are reusable and add that extra touch when gifting to a loved one. The bags can be made in different shapes and sizes to serve various purposes. With easy to hold handles for comfort and safety. All materials used to design the bags are reusable and recyclable.

What we'll deliver:

• A minimum of 15 local church street women gaining creative skill
• Environmental advocates promoting recycling in the local community
• A minimum of 500 reusable shopping and gift bags made from newspapers and magazines.
• To help support local families to generate an income
• Encourage market traders to use our bags instead of plastic ones
• Establish a community-led regeneration project enabling culturally diverse communities.

Why it's a great idea:

Through the project delivery, greater awareness of the importance of recycling and re-use of materials, will be raised through this initiative. We will be supporting the local council in encouraging recycling through a creative means. Only 13 percent of waste is recycled in Westminster compared to the whole of London. There are clear benefits to recycling- environmental and economic. This project will enable a group of local BAME isolated mothers from different ethnicity to form a strong local support network, encouraging community cohesion and improving integration. They will gain practical skills in the production of the bags. They will also become ambassadors of recycling through gaining knowledge and information on environmental awareness. The bespoke bags will be sold to local residents and other organisation at events. The women will gain skills on costs of production, stock control and marketing strategy. They will benefit from generating a household income.

Steps to get it done:

• Collecting the materials we need to start the project
• Training minimum of 15 women on bags production
• Creating 500+ bespoke bags within the allotted time frame
• Aiding 25 women to become environmental advocates reaching half our target

This project will run for 26 weeks. Starting September 2022- March 2023.