https://linktr.ee/makedogrow At our Govan based premises, we offer low cost pre-loved clothing and toys for children aged 3-12 and creative sessions such as crafting and free-play (including junk modelling and brick building) using reusable and recyclable materials. Here is more about what you’ll find inside, the heart of the business; the why and the how:
Our vision is of an inclusive, supportive and connected community of families, which encourages creativity to flourish from a young age and actively helps to protect the environment. There are three important social issues for us at the centre of this vision which form the foundational pillars of everything we do at Make Do & Grow: Enabling Ceativity, Building Family and Community and Reducing Waste. Enabling creativity: We believe that everyone is creative. Problem solving, imagination, expression, making connections, seeing patterns and generating solutions are all aspects of creativity, not simply the ability to make something aesthetically pleasing. The process of creating can have real, positive impact on the individual and is hugely beneficial to child well-being and development (check out this excellent article from the Hands On Scotland website http://www.handsonscotland.co.uk/flourishing_and_wellbeing_in_children_and_young_people/creativity/creativity.html)
Everyone should have access to develop their creativity and we remove some of the common barriers by offering space, materials, equipment and guidance in the form of both structured workshops and free-play sessions where children learn to engage their creativity from a young age. Empowering families is at the top of our agenda and all are welcome. Parents and carers stay for the activities to enjoy the family time together, join in and support. Our free play sessions are just that, free both in cost and possibility. We provide a number of scrap materials to work with but the children create whatever their minds can conjure up and put together. This encourages both imaginative and problem solving skills and also helps with the development of gross and fine motor skills. Our structured workshops are a little different too, as we try to create something fun which has either a practical or longer term use such as board games. The aim is to create items which won’t be put straight into the bin at home. Building Family and Community: Our desire is to provide access to creative activities, toys and clothing for growing children in the local community, including those families on a low income. As we grow ourselves, we hope to include creative activities for children with special needs and support integration for those families newly into the community. We also hope to use our creative workshop space to host information services and support activities aimed at local families. Reducing Waste: In our retail space, we take donations of clean, quality clothing and toys for children aged 3-12. By keeping good quality clothing and toys within the community, we will be helping to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill every year. The majority of the crafting materials we use comes from donated household waste, such as kitchen roll tubes, cereal boxes, newspapers and clear plastic containers. It is amazing what you can make and do with the resources readily available at home. We are working towards a fully circular recycle practice, whereby clothing donations which are unsuitable for resale are made into crafting aprons for our creative sessions and left over scraps, buttons and ribbons are used in the crafting activities themselves. For any items we simply cannot use, we look to recycle through carefully selected organisations with a responsible and ethical ethos. Our name reflects our desire to encourage creating, making and doing, using and re-using the resources we have around us (making-do in the best possible way), and growing together as a family and a community; supporting our children as they grow.
