All you need is glove

Last year’s Fashion Favours project demonstrated a real demand from young volunteers for more fashion-inspired volunteering opportunities, and its clear that the recession has sparked a new interest in Make Do and Mend ideas. So we love this new initiative from Do The Green Thing.

Glove Love rescues lost single gloves that have become separated from their original partners, calms them down and gives them a hot bath, then pairs them up with brand new glove lovers. Their website allows the new owners of the gloves to upload photos of themselves wearing their new Glove Love pair, so that the people who sent in their single gloves know that they’ve found happiness and a whole new lease of life. It’s like an older, more fashionable Blue Peter appeal, with a bit of added Kiva-style know-who-you’re-helping magic thrown in for good measure.

Don’t tell anyone, but this year, some of my nearest and dearest will be getting jewellery and books made from PAMET paper recycling project in Malawi, which started life as a volunteer project. With Christmas on the horizon and lots of people keen to save cash, we’re really looking forward to seeing more innovative volunteering opportunities which cost nothing but have real value – let us know what you’re planning…