Thread Republic CIC Supported To Develop Its Business Model And Move Towards Having Paid Staff

Thread Republic CIC was set up by 4 local textile practitioners during the pandemic and became a Community Interest Company in 2022. Its aim is to encourage circularity, community and creativity through textiles.

From their Huddersfield hub they offer:

  • A shop fully stocked with donated textiles and haberdashery items from local mills, small businesses and local craft citizens.
  • A textile workshop programme – inviting local textile practitioners to teach a variety of skills including textile mending, crochet, patchwork and upcycling.
  • A programme of stitch social sand events including clothes swaps and community fashion shows.

Director, Julia Roebuck says, ‘Textiles are part of our culture in Kirklees, and part of all of our lives. Many people in our communities are struggling and looking for support. Whether you’re struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, are worried about climate change or suffering with your mental health, we see a lot of people engaging with textiles to help and we believe our services can be part of the solution.’

    Julia and her co-directors were inspired by the vision of Mend Assembly in Totnes, Devon and its affiliate, Stitch Department on the Isle of Wight and they wanted to see if their grassroots alternative textiles practice could be replicated in a Northern community.  They too became an affiliate, and Mend Assembly helped them become a Community Interest Company (CIC). Alternatively, they could have chosen to become Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), but they didn’t want to be completely reliant on grant funding. They wanted to be entrepreneurial, but with a clear focus on their social and environmental purpose and have the option to work and support other local textile practitioners.

    With the help of Kirklees Council, they’ve secured a shared space on the Piazza in Huddersfield town centre which they share with another third sector creative business, West Yorkshire Print Workshop, . This allows them to generate an income from shop sales, workshops delivery, rental of space to other practitioners and build a physical space to welcome and support the local fashion and textiles community. 

    They are passionate about bringing Art & Culture to the high street and are working closely alongside other creative and community organisations in the Piazza including The Children’s Art School (Maker World), Shared Goods, and Collaborarti under the collective group name: Creative Piazza. 

    Thread Republic have a paid membership offer and receive grants to run workshops and community outreach, and have had help from both TSL Kirklees, Kirklees Youth Alliance and Woven in Kirklees to be able to do this.

    Julia said, ‘If it wasn’t for community and collaboration, we wouldn’t be in this space now, both physically and metaphorically. It’s fundamental to helping us all thrive.’

    Thread Republic appeals to everyone from crafters and menders to students, Etsy and Facebook traders, families with young children, and older people, and the team loves to hear people’s memories and stories about ‘mending and making do’ or working in the local mills.

    They needed help from BFGWY to:

    • Look at how they can increase their income and get to a position where they can employ staff. The organisation is currently completely volunteer run and led.
    • Make time and space to bring all the directors together to refocus and regroup and make sure that they were all on the same page about what they were doing and why.
    • Develop a Theory of Change focusing on where they want to be in 10 years’ time and taking steps towards making that happen. This included setting key indicators that can be used for measuring social impact and creating an annual report.

    The help they received was:

    • 1-1 coaching from Rob Greenland
    • Access to a BFGWY Growth and Resilience Grant which funded them to work with a mission-led business consultant, Fiona Ras-Jones.

    ‘In the short term, Fiona helped us to start saying ‘no’ to things and focus on developing new income streams such as working with commercial partners to repurpose their waste and sell it B2B to other haberdasheries or as craft kits for schools.’

    This support helped Thread Republic

    • Double the number of textile business partnerships who donate textile surplus to the hub
    • Clarify their mission and how they want to achieve it
    • Fully develop data capture tools to better understand their economic, environmental and social impact

    Julia’s Top Tips:

    • Collaborate – you will have both a lot to offer and a lot to learn – and don’t be afraid to ask for help and share your experiences to help others.
    • Your passion will inspire others to join you!
    • Be open to being flexible and working with people in different ways and don’t feel like you have to be too formal or business-like.

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