Meet Margot, the owner of Heart Upcycling, a not-for-profit initiative, that finds a new use for waste materials, whilst offering creative workshops, and donating to Birmingham Hospice!
“I started Heart Upcycling when I retired a few years ago. My real passion is making dolls which I market worldwide through Etsy. Every doll I create makes good use of recycled materials, sourced from Charity shops and donations. I craft for the love of it, not for profit – I donate all profits from sales to Birmingham Hospice who took care of my Mum. I love making dolls to custom order and feedback from happy customers is all the reward I need. To add a bit of variety, I also use upcycled materials to make a small range of gift items which I sell both via Etsy and at fundraising craft sales locally.”
“Birmingham Hospice opened a new superstore on Harborne High Street (Reloved Brum) a couple of years ago which gave me the opportunity to use their community room to run a series of craft workshops. The workshops aim to encourage people to “Have a Go” at a variety of crafts that might appeal to them with all materials provided in kit form. As well as an opportunity to learn something new, I am also passionate about providing opportunities for people to get together in a relaxing environment. Living in the centre of a vibrant city like Birmingham is great – but cities can also be lonely places for many people. My craft workshops are one way of providing a social outlet for those looking for a bit of company and I am happy that spin off friendship groups of like-minded people have developed as a result. I aim to keep the workshops very reasonably priced to cover material costs (using upcycled materials as much as I can) and a donation to the Hospice for room hire – I don’t charge anything for my time which hopefully means that cost isn’t a barrier for those interested in taking part.”
“The workshops have been really popular over the last couple of years and I am in the process of putting together a programme for this year. The first workshops will be rag rugging which will start in May – exact dates TBC. Rag rugging really appeals to me because we can source all the materials from the rag bag at the Charity Shop which would otherwise go to waste.”
Why is sustainability important to you?
“Sustainability is important to me because our planet’s resources are finite. Wasting resources today deprives future generations of them tomorrow. Conserving resources helps to make our world a better place.”
What sorts of things do you need to consider to ensure your business is sustainable?
“I use upcycled materials, that I’ve collected from charity shops, and donations. I particularly like using materials from the charity shop rag bags, that would otherwise go to waste”
What is your favourite thing about running your business?
“I get a real buzz from turning waste materials into something useful and beautiful that brings people pleasure – and raises funds for a good cause in the process.”
What do you love about Birmingham?
“Birmingham is a vibrant city – always changing, still growing, evolving and reshaping itself to serve the Brummies who are proud to call it home. Above all for me though, it ranks as one of the friendliest cities in the UK.”
Find out more by visiting the Heart Upcycling website, Etsy store & Instagram page!