Craftivism will help 'start climate conversations'

A new climate hub inside an empty town centre shop will hold craftivism sessions and a repair cafe as a way to engage the community.

Ipswich Umbrella has taken over a unit on Butter Market with support from the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership and Community Hub Ipswich (CHIp).

Founder Sue Hagley said: "It feels really exciting. It's been in my head for about four years... this is something that Ipswich needs."

The hub is holding a launch event on Saturday 7 February, with academic and climate campaigner Rupert Read and other local environmental groups attending.

Craftivism - combining craft and activism - involves using craft and creativity as a form of political expression and social engagement.

The term was coined by Betsy Greer, a knitter and anti-sweatshop activist, in 2003.

The hub is a culmination of work by volunteers who have held regular climate meetings and a repair cafe in the nearby CHIp building, a group also turning empty shops into community space.

Hagley said: "The time is right now.

"We are entering a time when things are going to become really apparent that they're changing - we have climate refugees in Suffolk... that brings it home.

"People were flooded in in Devon really badly this year, we've had several named storms already [this year] so it's not going away. Community is the way that we can support each other as we start going into what might be quite dark times."

The walls of the hub are adorned with banners and artistic creations with political slogans.

Sarah Sanford is one of the volunteers who will run craftivism sessions.

She told BBC Radio Suffolk: "[It is] Making old things into new and giving them extra meaning and purpose and keeping your hands busy and talking to other people.

"When you do it, other people come and say 'what are you doing?' And that seems to open up conversations that just putting on the wall doesn't achieve."

Since 2021, all of Suffolk's public sector organisations have been collaborating on the Suffolk Climate Emergency Plan.

This sets out a vision for a greener Suffolk with ambitious goals, including engaging community groups.

The latest progress report was published in autumn 2025.

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