A special evening to mark St. Brigid’s Day at Clare Haven Horizons Charity Superstore in Ennis takes place on February 1st.
As well as music and mingling there will be short talks on how to upcycle furniture and repurpose so called “waste”, how to choose the right pre-loved fashion items for you and how to be kinder to the planet while doing so.
Carol Buckley of the Clare Haven Horizons charity shop has won numerous national awards for her creative window displays. She will give pointers on how to breathe new life into pieces of furniture and repurpose waste items to create something unique while inspiring us with confidence to see the immense potential in used items.
As individuals, we come in all shapes and one fashion size does not fit all. Louisa McMahon of Top to Toe Style will give tips on how to pick what is right for you, whether casual or for a fancy occasion. “My goal is to help people look and feel their best while shopping sustainably as well.” She will also be on hand after her talk to advise anyone who wants to try out items from the clothes shop.
A common thread going through the evening will be the need for sustainability in our lives. Green Party Representative Bridget Ginnity thinks we can get inspiration from St. Brigid. “One of the stories about St. Brigid is that the King of Leinster agreed she could have the land her cloak would cover. What a shock when the cloak grew and spread over the whole area of the Curragh. It would be great if we could stretch our budgets as well as she could stretch her cloak, but we can do a lot if we live our lives in a way that does not use up our precious resources.”
Mairead Mannion, shop manager at Haven Horizons’ Charity Superstore, says their outlet is “a high-end second-hand departmental store which sells a diverse range of excellent quality items, ranging from furniture to fashion, home and kitchen ware to quality books and toys. I always say that smart people shop in charity shops and save their hard-earned money for their holidays and for creating memories with their families. Since Covid we are seeing more brand new and unused fashion items being donated, because of the increase in people impulse buying online and later deciding they do not want it. We generally sell these items at a fraction of the recommended retail price which is great news for our customers.
“As well as saving money, people who shop with us are keen to support our charitable cause and there is certainly an increasing number of people choosing to shop consciously to support sustainable retail and the environment. It is so refreshing that the stigma of shopping in a charity store is a thing of the past.”
The event takes place on Thursday 1st February 7-9pm at the Furniture Home-store in the Gort Road Business Park in Ennis. V95 C8HN. Entry is free and all proceeds
from the evening will support the charitable work of both Clare Haven Services, which provides frontline domestic abuse services and Haven Horizons, which focuses on research and education programmes aimed at ending gender-based violence in society.
