Upcycle Me, Durham Indoor Market
Introducing a creative business that breathes new life into cast-offs
That drawer full of forgotten bits and pieces could be the starting point for a unique new piece of jewellery, a distinctive souvenir, or a one-off decoration. That’s precisely what a Durham-based crafter is bringing to the Indoor Market.
Upcycle Me, as the name suggests, is all about breathing new life into the discarded and overlooked. Alex Winterson brought her passion for crafting with other people’s cast-offs into Durham Market in June – and her stall is already proving to be a hit.
“There’s not really been a single person who hasn’t thought ‘this is an amazing idea!’,” Alex said. “I’m so impressed with the amount of interest. Students, young adults, everyone seems to really like the idea of reusing rubbish to create something truly unique and independent.
“There’s nothing here that you could find anywhere else, and people respond to that. People love the idea of having something unique, but they can’t always afford it. So I think that’s why we have an amazing response.”
The insta-worthy stock is hugely varied, ranging from costume jewellery to keyrings and trinkets. And it changes every day as Alex creates new items for sale. But the key feature is that everything on display is recycled. The only newly-purchased items are hoops for earrings, where the originals cannot be reused for hygiene reasons.
“I have donation tubs in the shop and I’ll take absolutely anything except food,” Alex said. “People leave things like nuts and bolts, beads, broken chains, lost earrings, kids’ toys. Sort through it and there’s a huge amount of material that you can build with and make something new and 100% recycled. Even my paint and glue are second hand.”
Reusing materials keeps costs down as well. When people donate broken bracelets or necklaces, for example, it creates a stock of spare parts that can be turned into new pieces of jewellery without paying a premium for materials.
“We have people looking for costume jewellery, but they can’t afford – or don’t want to pay extra – for a 24-carat necklace. Here we can use different materials to make something that’s not just unique, but better value as well.”
‘Everything on this shelf was going to be thrown away’
It can start from something as simple as an outdated store card. For most of us, this is little more than landfill fodder, destined to lie in the earth for centuries to come. Alex, though, spotted a quick and easy way to give defunct plastic a new life.
“You see the number of them that are handed out, and the number that end up in landfill. What if we could do something with it while keeping customers safe and not releasing any personal information? If you bring it here, I can make one card into four guitar picks. Because it’s quick and easy, it’s also cheap for people to buy.”
The same creative approach means that every price tag on the stall comes from an old Christmas or birthday card, fulfilling the ‘reuse’ part of the sustainability mantra.
Upcycle Me is an entirely local operation, with Alex often collecting from friends who are trying to get rid of items at home.
“I don’t want to take away from charity shops, that’s really important,” she added. “I want to take items that are heading for the bin. Everything on this shelf was going to be thrown away. You can see bits of a Jack Daniels jenga set, parts of a Trivial Pursuits set, pieces from children’s old toys. I’ve got hold of them and made them into something new.
“Unfortunately, so much of this goes in the bin because people don’t have the space, time, training or creativity to be able to do more with the materials that they might have in their homes. Eventually, I’d love to get around all the businesses in Durham and give them a collection pot. They can put their waste in there and I can come back and sort through it for the stall.”
There are already links with one of the town’s cafés.
“This chair actually came from Costa,” Alex added. “Someone from their café in Durham got in touch to see what we could do. They’ve given me all their broken chairs which just needed glue and replacing some of the wood then the rest is whatever I wanted to do with it.
“What I want with one of the chairs is to redecorate it like a Costa chair and see if they want it back, if they want a quirky chair. It’s nice to get that support from a big company.”
‘If there’s a bit of creativity from my side, I’ll enjoy the job’
Big companies might be chipping in, but there’s no room for the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of a national chain. Individual commissions are welcome, and the more imaginative the better.
“People want different things,” Alex said. “Sometimes it’s a very open brief – I’m wearing a red dress and I want some red earrings. If there’s a bit of creativity from my side, I’ll enjoy the job. And that’s another important part of the work. It’s not just about turning a profit, it’s about sustainability too.
“Other times, people have broken jewellery that they want me to fix. Not long ago, a lady brought in some beads that had belonged to her great-grandmother and wanted me to make something with them.
“And my friend Becky had a bracelet that her mum bought, a real piece of fashionable costume jewellery. She loved it, but wasn’t sure what to do with it. I used it to make a brooch for her. Then I made a keyring for a bag chain, then there was enough to make another brooch.
“Out of one thing that she wasn’t quite sure about we made three things and she loves them. We can put a lot of creativity into a commission.”
‘It’s already becoming quite a community’
Becky is Rebecca Ashby, an old friend of Alex who runs the Quirkshop stall next door to Upcycle Me. The two businesses complement one another – not least because of a shared commitment to providing a customer experience that goes beyond a commercial transaction and builds a community.
“I’ve not been here long, but it’s already becoming quite a community,” Alex said. “We’re able to support people: maybe someone has mental health concerns, some students find they don’t know many other people in town, other people are just starting their own creative process but don’t understand how to begin.
“They can come down and take part. Maybe that’s helping to break down and organise the materials, or it could be talking about ideas and what they could do with things that they find.”
The community also looks to bring together other creators in and around Durham. Far from a competitive business model, Alex is keen to promote a collaborative approach.
“We’re starting a place where all the different creative businesses in Durham can stick their cards on my wall,” Alex explained. “Basically, it’s free advertising for anyone.
“We don’t need to make this a competition. I can’t knit or crochet, for example, but there are other people out there doing brilliant things like that. It’s good to steer people towards the skills and services they need.
“What a lot of traders forget is that if one of us makes money, we all make money.”
It’s that community spirit in action again.
