About Upsized CIC
A circular wardrobe for Wetherby’s children – and a new way to fund local good causes
Upsized CIC is Wetherby’s community children’s clothing swap and circular fashion hub. We help families save money, cut textile waste and unlock funding for youth and family projects – all by giving outgrown clothes a meaningful second life.
Who we are
Upsized is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Wetherby. We exist to make family life a little easier – especially when children are growing quickly and budgets are tight – while staying firmly rooted in our local community.
What we do
We run doorstep clothing collections and town-centre swap events. Families donate children’s clothes they no longer need, receive digital tokens in return, and use those tokens to choose great-quality items in the next size up.
Who it’s for
Upsized is for any household in Wetherby and nearby villages with children or young teens – whether you want to save money, live more sustainably, or simply clear space at home without wasting good clothing.
How Upsized fits together
Upsized is built around a simple loop:
- Families donate clean, good-condition children’s clothing.
- We sort, quality-check and tier each item so the rails at events feel more like a curated shop than a jumble sale.
- Donors receive digital tokens that reflect what they’ve contributed.
- At the event, families use those tokens to trade up to the next sizes their children need.
- A small trade fee and optional tier top-ups help cover costs and grow our Community Impact Fund.
If you’d like the step‑by‑step version, including what we accept and how tokens work, have a look at How Upsized Works .
At a glance
- ✔ Doorstep collections and in‑person drop‑offs
- ✔ Digital tokens as a thank‑you for donating
- ✔ Curated swap events with rails by size and style
- ✔ Simple fees that keep things affordable and fair
- ✔ A growing Community Impact Fund for local projects
Why Upsized exists: from waste to community resource
Children grow fast. In the UK, thousands of tonnes of perfectly wearable children’s clothing end up in landfill or low‑value recycling every year. At the same time, many families are facing tighter budgets and rising costs of living.
Upsized connects these two realities. Instead of treating outgrown clothes as waste, we treat them as a shared community resource. Each donation helps:
- Cut carbon and landfill by keeping garments in use for longer.
- Ease pressure on family budgets by replacing retail prices with token swaps.
- Build a community fund that can back projects chosen by local people.
Our goal is that every bag of clothes dropped at a doorstep in Wetherby does more than just free up space – it supports another family, reduces waste and lays the groundwork for visible improvements in local life.
The bigger picture
The fashion industry is responsible for an estimated 8–10% of global carbon emissions. Children’s clothing is a big part of that story: items are often worn for only a few months before being discarded.
By keeping good‑quality garments in local circulation, we help slow the flow of textiles into landfill and show, in a practical way, what a low‑waste, family‑friendly town can look like.
The Upsized Community Impact Fund
Upsized is not a traditional charity shop. As a CIC, we ring‑fence a portion of income from trade fees, top‑ups and £10/month supporter memberships into a dedicated Community Impact Fund.
Several times a year we’ll invite supporters and active families to help decide how that fund is spent. Projects might include:
- A youth hub or safe after‑school space in Wetherby.
- Mini‑grants for village‑level children’s activities.
- Crisis clothing bundles for families referred by local services.
- Practical sustainability projects with local schools.
The exact projects will evolve over time, but one thing is fixed: any surplus created by Upsized is locked into community benefit and cannot be taken as private profit.
Voting on what we fund next
Supporters will be able to vote in regular funding rounds on which project we prioritise next. The live voting tool is still in development, but a typical round might look like:
- • 46% – Wetherby youth hub pilot
- • 31% – Crisis clothing fund for referrals
- • 15% – Village mini‑grants for clubs
- • 8% – School sustainability project
Figures above are illustrative only. In future, this panel will show a real‑time snapshot from our live impact voting tool.
Tokens, trade fees and keeping things fair
We use a token system to keep swapping simple and fair. When you donate, we issue tokens that roughly match the value and quality of what you’ve given. At a swap day, most families pay a £7 trade fee – this unlocks the ability to use those tokens and helps cover venue and running costs.
Clothing is grouped into tiers (for example: supermarket, high street, sports brand, designer). If you want to move up a tier with a particular item, there’s a small top‑up so the system stays fair for everyone:
- Moving up one tier – £9
- Two tiers – £9 + £14
- Three tiers – £9 + £14 + £19
Most families simply pay the £7 trade fee and swap within their token tier. The top‑ups are there for occasional special pieces, while helping us recognise quality and keep the rails balanced.
Affordability first
Upsized is designed so that swapping is always cheaper than buying equivalent items new – often dramatically so. If cost is a barrier at any point, please speak to us in confidence; we work with local partners to make sure help reaches the families who need it most.
How Upsized is run
As a Community Interest Company, Upsized is legally required to operate for community benefit. Any surplus is reinvested into improving the service, supporting volunteers and funding local projects – not paid out as profit to shareholders.
We aim to be transparent about how funds are used. Over time, we plan to publish:
- Simple summaries of income and costs for each event.
- Annual snapshots of how the Community Impact Fund has been spent.
- Stories from families and projects that have benefitted.
Our decisions are informed by conversations with parents, schools, community organisations and supporters. If you’d like to be involved in steering the project, we’d love to hear from you.
Support, volunteer or partner with us
- Become a £10/month supporter and help underwrite venue hire and storage – see our supporter options via Subscribe .
- Volunteer at collections and events – from sorting stock to welcoming families.
- Partner with us as a school, community group or local business that wants to host a collection or co‑run an initiative.
Reach us via the contact page if you’d like to chat about any of these.
What next?
Whether you arrive with a single bag of baby clothes or armfuls of secondary‑school gear, you’re part of something bigger: a community that looks after each other and the planet at the same time.
- Sort a bag of clean, good‑condition children’s clothing.
- Book a doorstep collection or bring it to our next event.
- Receive your tokens once we’ve completed the quality check.
- Come along to the next swap and choose what your family needs.
- If you’re able, consider becoming a £10/month supporter so we can reach more households across Wetherby and beyond.
Thank you for being part of Upsized. Together, we can turn outgrown clothes into opportunity, reduce waste and build a stronger, more caring community.