Leeds Community Clothing Exchange was started by a group of friends in Hyde Park back in 2008 and has now grown to over 3000 members. We are an not-for-profit unincorporated association run by a volunteer management committee and team of volunteers.

So where did we first start? Our story begins in a Hyde Park studio, run by Lizzie Harrison way back when it used to be called 25 Spaces. As part of Lizzie’s Masters Degree project the studio space underwent a renovation and became her boutique and studio space, and here in the renovated studio was the first ever Leeds Community Clothing Exchange.

The clothes swap event became part of the community side of Lizzie’s ethical fashion brand Antiform, called Re Made in Leeds. We grew rapidly and became a way for everyone to have access to sustainable fashion options. In 2014 Re Made in Leeds closed its doors for the last time and Antiform moved down to Bristol, where the brand has flourished. LCCE moved to Woodhouse Community Centre where we have happily been ever since!

Since our move to Woodhouse Community Centre, we’ve reached almost 4000 members with our monthly swap events. We’ve worked with regional groups including Freedom4Girls, PAFRAS, Care 4 Calais, Basis and many more, sewed facemasks for the NHS during the pandemic and worked with our friends at Leeds Repair Café to make sure clothes get to the people who need them. We’ve also been featured in the Guardian, Big Issue and Great British Sewing Bee host Patrick Grant’s book Less!