Sewing a greener future

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Athleague-based CycleUp Textiles has been supporting local women in Roscommon with meaningful and flexible employment and training opportunities over the past five years.

Built on an ethos of sustainability and circular economy, the organisation has made a name for itself as a prime example of how a small enterprise can boost a locality.

CycleUp, based in the Riverside Centre in Athleague, is a social enterprise dedicated to transforming textile waste into handcrafted products. The group is operated by Roscommon Women's Network (RWN), the Community Services Programme, and the EU Just Transition Fund Programme.

The idea first started in 2020 with a charity shop in Roscommon, as volunteers questioned what they could do to reduce the waste of donations that were not sellable.

Sewing and upcycling assistant, Maria Hourigan said: "My mother was involved with the initial idea for CycleUp. The clothes would get picked up in a van, and the women started to wonder what happened to them.

“They were horrified because the clothes either went to the dump, or they were being transported to Africa and India. They knew they had to do something to help.”

With support from Patagonia, Galway and Roscommon Education Training Board (GRETB), and Roscommon County Council through the Local Agenda 21 Partnership Fund and Creative Ireland, RWN piloted a program in which women volunteers deconstructed existing garments back into fabric, used patterns to cut and sew new items and then sold those items on.

The organisation trained upcycling tutors and designed and delivered practical, informative and fun upcycling textiles workshops for community groups, workplaces and schools where people could learn to make a simple but useful items from unwanted textiles.

Currently, CycleUp employs a team of eight product creators working under Alena Gurn, the organisation's Production Team Leader.

Maria was able to secure flexible work with CycleUp, and is now both a product creator and tutor for the organisation, with both roles providing a separate stream of income for her.

“During lockdown I got involved, because I lost my job in a restaurant. Initially I got involved with stuffing products – back then I couldn't sew to save my life!

“From there I did a QQI Train the Trainer course, and to do that I had to join CycleUp. I was volunteering for three years here, and then I joined the Community Employment (CE) scheme.”

As well as creating wonderful training and employment opportunities in the local community, CycleUp has also made a big impact further afield.

The group offers workshops across the country, and has received interest as far as Cork and Dublin and members have travelled to both Finland and Croatia to share their work.

UpCycle is considered a pilot programme in Europe, with many other countries looking to replicate the success of the textiles organisation.

Speaking about the trip to Finland, sewing and upcycling assistant, Emer Giblin said: “The opportunity came out of AONTAS. We did training courses with the adult learners and engaged with people from all different backgrounds.

“We went to conferences about sustainabilty and adult learning, and engaged with a lot of different groups of people. It was about learning methods to encourage adult learners from the position of a practitioner.”

Maria added: “In Zagreb it was all about sustainability. There was a European Educational Board there as part of the Erasmus programme. They said we're a great success story, and they want to replicate what we do – from creating local job to the workshops to selling the products we make.”

The impact of CycleUp can be clearly seen through the weight of the textiles that they have created - which is representative of how much textiles have been saved from the landfill.

In 2023, a total of 239.2kg of textiles were used by the group, including 144.52kg for products, and 94.68kg for training.

In 2025, CycleUp is seeking to further develop the business, and it is inviting organisations from across Roscommon and Westmeath to reach out to them for the opportunity to take part in their workshops.

"We have done workshops in schools and community centres all over Roscommon - and we even have one planned for Monksland in September of this year," said Martina Hourigan, Progression and Skills Co-ordinator.

"We're looking to branch out now and bring our services even further across the country. We would love the opportunity to provide workshops for schools, businesses, and other organisations in Westmeath."

As part of a special promotion for Women's Day, CycleUp are offering an exclusive discount on their pieces for Westmeath Independent readers.

For more information on CycleUp, and to shop their range of sustainable handcrafted products, go to: https://www.cycleup.ie/ - using code IWDWM15 for 15% off.