Enactus aims to support young people in the UK to engage in youth social action and youth social enterprise.
Their mission is to be recognised as a leader in developing a national network of socially-minded young leaders of the future who transform communities and societies through real-life social action and environmentally responsible enterprise. Enactus is an established university programme that has been running since 2001 and now operates in 60 universities across the UK, engaging up to 3,000 students each year.
One of Enactus City University of London’s projects, Garmented, focuses on the concept of clothing.
For some, buying a product involves looking at its size, colour, and design. For others, it is about the materials and finer details, such as the occasion it’s made for. But there is a major chunk of the population who need to think about how they will wear it and whether or not it will be comfortable. We dress ourselves every day. It is a routine, and you don’t give it much thought. But imagine someone who needs to plan that every day of their life.
Clothing is not the same for people with disabilities. Some have conditions where they can’t move their arms and would need someone to help them wear a t-shirt. This is not fair. They should be able to dress on their own with independence and freedom. Adaptive clothing solves this problem. It is clothing designed for people with disabilities who experience difficulty dressing themselves.
Enactus City University of London believes that everyone should have easy access to clothing suited to their needs. A newly emerging social enterprise, they are focused on making adaptive clothing affordable, sustainable, and fashionable for children and young adults with disabilities. By modifying secondhand clothes to fit the needs of individuals, they are reducing the waste generated from the fashion industry whilst improving access to adaptive clothing.
But they don’t want to be yet another clothing provider. It’s more than that. They want to connect with their customers properly and intend to do that through regular events.
They started the project in January 2020 and have made significant progress since then. It isn’t easy to restart Enactus from scratch and build projects that make it to the nationals without being in the rookie league. But Enactus City has managed to do that while creating impact. To top off an impressive year, they have won the Most Improved Team of the Year award. This will serve as inspiration for the team as well as others who are just starting out.
If you are interested in learning more about Enactus or joining the team, get in touch with Yoga Barrathwaj.