Cheltenham charity shop launch re-loved line
The volunteers are upcycling clothes that could otherwise end up in landfill
Last updated 30th Jul 2025
A Cheltenham Charity shop is celebrating one year of its Winchcombe Street shop by launching the spa towns first of its kind upcycling initiative.
Linc has created a ‘Re-loved’ collection which turns damaged clothing and accessories into stylish and sellable new pieces.
Less than 1% of clothing globally is recycled into new items and in the UK 49% of textiles currently go to waste, costing £200 million to incinerate annually.
Helping to reduce this waste, charity shops remain the UK’s main clothing collection infrastructure.
The country’s 11,000 shops currently divert over 330,000 tonnes of textiles from landfill each year, according to 2017 figures.
Wanting to keep more garments out of landfill, Linc decided to push their sustainability one step further.
The collection supports the charity’s sustainability and environmental values, while also raising even more vital funds for local blood cancer patients.
Over 150 volunteer hours have already been dedicated to upcycling 200 items, saving 918 kg of CO2 and avoiding 85 kg of landfill.
The charity however is calling for more volunteers to get involved.
CEO at Linc Charity, Louise Neal, told Greatest Hits Radio: “We’re asking for volunteers for our re-loved, because we’d love people to come in and be creative in the shop.
“But equally we need people that want to come and work on the till and in the stockroom as well.”
Some items of the Re-Loved collection include tired blouses turned into statement detachable collars, t-shirts cropped into vests, and mended cashmere jumpers ready for the Autumn.
Laura Lee, Retail Manager at Linc Charity said: “Items that can’t be resold would usually be sent to our recycling merchant but the price we get for ‘rag’ continues to fall.
“We came up with the Re-loved initiative as it fits our strong sustainability ethic while providing us with another source of revenue.
“Extending the life of clothes by just 9 months not only reduces carbon, water and waste footprints by 20%, it also means we can turn the average 7p we might get for ‘rag’ for an item into an average of £4 per item.
“It’s a win-win!”
The Re-loved collection is exclusive to the Winchcombe Street store, located just off Cheltenham High Street, and also includes accessories like denim aprons made from worn-out jeans, earrings and keyrings made from donated broken jewellery, and scrunchies reimagined from silk blouses.
Laura continues: “We have had so much fun.
“Re-loved has brought the team closer together and strengthened our shared commitment to sustainability.
“Both our Winchcombe Street store and our shop on Bath Road produce minimal landfill waste – less than one bin bag a week while we also re-donate some items such as used towels to animal charities and tents to homeless charities.”
Louise Neal, CEO at Linc Charity added: “Our Re-loved range is a brilliant new step for us!
“As the first upcycling initiative for Linc, it gives us the chance to reuse items that would otherwise be recycled or discarded, turning them into something unique, stylish and sellable.
“Not only does this support our sustainability goals but also boosts revenue that directly funds our services to blood cancer patients and their families being treated across Gloucestershire’s Hospitals.”