Yodomo Circular Hubs

Image: A member of Yodomo’s Sustainable Young Makers Programme at work. © Yodomo

Winning the Marie Claire ‘Progress toward circularity’ award in 2023, Yodomo provides low-cost sustainable materials for local makers in the heart of Hackney, currently working from two sites in East London. Yodomo’s 2,000 ‘creative reuse members’ take away textile ‘waste’ materials to turn into valuable new products.

2,000

local people with access to textiles and maker space
2

circular hubs in Hackney
60

businesses sustainably disposing textile waste
6

young people engaged through the Sustainable Young Makers Programme

Yodomo's mission is to increase wellbeing and promote the understanding of the reuse of materials. They do this by giving more people the skills and knowledge to start making alongside access to good quality, low-cost materials.

Yodomo specialises in textiles and works with businesses in the interior design and fashion industries to find easy, sustainable ways to dispose of their textile ‘waste’ – then track its onward journey for sustainability reporting and learn more about circular processes.

These materials are carefully sourced and distributed to a 2,000+ maker community for creative projects, via Yodomo’s circular hubs — reducing waste and supplying local maker communities with low-cost materials.

*Image © Yodomo Circular Hub at Hackney City Farm (by Paul Fuller)*

Unlocking space to rethink ‘waste’...

Yodomo partnered with Hackney Council to launch its first pilot circular hub in Hackney City Farm and sign up its first ‘creative reuse members’. With support from Footwork, they developed work at the Farm to consider how products could be made from waste textiles to improve local homes.

In 2023, Yodomo was funded by UK government (Innovate UK) to research and develop better systems around textile waste in the interior design industry. In 2024, it is working on a testbed project as part of the SHIFT Innovation Future Industries Demonstrator, considering how textile waste can be used in insulation products to help reduce energy bills in social housing.

Yodomo’s newest circular hub, the Textile Reuse Hub, is a partnership with Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust and The Trampery, where Yodomo runs its monthly fabric sales events attended by sustainable textiles enthusiasts from all over the UK and maker workshops to encourage more people to get making.

The Textile Reuse Hub has had visitors from NASA through to local residents, gently growing the reuse movement and nudging consumer behaviour away from virgin materials to sustainable ones. The Textile Reuse Hub is also home to the The Sustainable Young Makers Programme supporting six young people from the legacy boroughs to develop their textile-based businesses sustainably, leveraging mentorships with professionals in the industry including Nike and Vivienne Westwood.

"Securing space at the heart of communities has been vital to our mission…
…to promote wellbeing and empower more people and businesses to participate in creative making and circular processes.."
— Sophie Rochester, Founder and CEO, Yodomo