Can you give new life to an old wedding dress?

Homelessness charity Emmaus Mossley is appealing for fashion designers, home crafters and thrifty upcyclers to take part in a competition to transform a wedding dress.

The redesign competition will make use of unsold wedding dresses donated to Emmaus Mossley.

Rather than sending them to landfill, the charity is appealing for creative designers, students, local businesses and individuals to showcase their skills and make use of the dresses in new ways.

Hazel Hodkinson, Retail Manager at Emmaus Mossley, said: “Like many other charity shops, we have found ourselves harbouring a collection of beautiful donated wedding dresses.

"Most have only been worn once and some are brand new with their labels showing price tags of several hundred pounds.

“We want to give these dresses a second life by calling on our creative supporters to transform them into new garments or upcycle them into something completely different.

"The competition will hopefully showcase these beautiful fabrics in imaginative ways and give them a life beyond one day of use.”

All entrants will be allowed to pick their gown free of charge on the condition that the finished piece is returned to Emmaus Mossley by September 21.

All entries will be displayed and photographed at Emmaus Mossley during Recycle Week 2018 – September 24 to 30.

The items will then be offered for sale with all the proceeds going to support Emmaus Mossley.

The winner, announced at the Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Day on Saturday, September 29, will receive a £50 voucher to spend in the Emmaus Mossley Secondhand Superstore.

To learn more and register your interest in taking part in the competition visit: http://bit.ly/WeddingDressComp

Emmaus Mossley supports 26 formerly homeless people by providing them with a home and work in a community setting.

The charity runs a social enterprise in Mossley, selling donated and upcycled furniture, household goods, clothes, bric-a-brac and vintage wares.

To find out more about Emmaus Mossley, head to: www.emmaus.org.uk/mossley.

If you would like to get involved or donate an item, please call 01457 838608 or visit the store at Longlands Mill, Queen Street, Mossley OL5 9AH.

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