News

Community Market

24 Nov 2021

Why not join us for our Community Market which is being held on Tuesday 30th November from 10am-2pm outside The Hub. 

Just under a month ago we held our first Community Market in collaboration with Envirosoc. After the lengthy break from a tangible sense of community that Covid had brought, it was wonderful to bring that neighbourliness back on campus, giving local small businesses and socio-environmental initiatives the chance to interact with the UCC community. The ethos of the market is centred around promoting circularity, involving students, staff and the general public and creating a real sense of community on campus.  We had a wide range of stallholders ranging from sustainable consumption focused stalls to activist stalls such as Extinction Rebellion Cork. Communicating the benefits of circularity is so important to us at UCC Green Campus so our aim is to demonstrate that products can reused repaired and remanufactured while at the same time making this concept accessible to the UCC community.

Through our Community Markets the entire UCC community can enjoy and engage with the market whether they intended to purchase anything or just have a good aul parous. This creates a relaxed friendly atmosphere environment at the market. The market is also strictly covid conscious with the wonderful Envirosoc members volunteering as Covid Officers throughout the day creating a safe environment for all.

The Community Market aims to support Cork’s creative community allowing them to share their talents. It was great to finally see the fruits of all their labour, the creation of which had gone on behind closed doors for many months. 

We asked some of our stallholders to tell us a bit about themselves, their ethos, and the products they sell to give you a taste of what to expect at the Community Markets. Here’s what they had to say:

“EarthWay Refill is a shop where you can buy organic foods, liquids, household & body care products in the quantity you want, using your own containers. Thus reducing the production of more packaging. Our ethos is to highlight the need to eliminate unnecessary plastic and reduce waste by offering good quality, organic food/products from dispensers, scoops and jars, so zero waste to the customer.”

What products do you sell? “all base essential foods and household liquids. (We will have only a small portion at the stall of what we sell.) The ideal is that people bring their own containers/bottles etc. We are excited to be there to spread the word to students and show them how Refill is very affordable for them.” - Wendy from Earthway refill shop Midleton.

 

 “I sell a natural deodorant which I make myself. I began this little business venture during covid and it really took off and became a product I am quite proud of. Sourcing my ingredients and materials locally is very important for me and producing something that is a fair price and that works well is the main achievement for helping people move to a more sustainable way of keeping those pits smelling fresh hehe. It was very fun to have the stall at the market where I got to see lots of regular customers in the flesh and meet lodes of new people. It was great to see so many busy bees around and all the other beautiful crafts and stalls” - Jess from Po-Rua

 “Our ethos as a charity organisation which supports domestic abuse services and programs to end relationship abuse is "shop to stop abuse and support sustainable retail". We believe in the importance of buying second-hand and do our best to promote the circular economy! At the pop-up shop, we will be selling good quality second-hand winter fashion items, books and jewellery”- Ali, Haven Horizons Charity Shop  

“Candid Frank is a sustainable vintage clothing store that offers students a fast-fashion alternative. We stock everything from clothing to accessories! We are a 100% zero plastic business. Many “sustainable” clothing stores today wrap their products in layers of plastic - which to us seems like a contradiction! That’s why at Candid Frank all of our wrapping is paper and recycled paper. At our in-person markets we give our customers their purchases in re-used paper bags or else in organic cotton Candid Frank tote bags. I love love love selling at the in-person markets. It’s great to work with such amazing people on UCC Green Campus and Envirosoc! I also love meeting all of the Candid Customers in real life. It’s so great having chats about the clothes and getting to meet some long-time online shoppers. The whole experience is always so positive! I can’t wait for the next market!” – Anna from Candid Frank Vintage.

“Ceangal is part of UCC Enactus as its oldest continuous project. We are a group of passionate students who have teamed up with migrant women and women in Direct Provision to provide a premium quality range of candles. We are currently working on expanding our product range to include lip balms. At Ceangal, we want to make a difference in the lives of asylum seekers by empowering them through the learning of fundamental skills. These include crafting and product making, CV writing, interview preparation and presentation skills, as well as providing them with social outlets and employment opportunities. Once asylum seekers achieve their citizenship status they are often left to fend for themselves in a foreign society with no means to live on. For this reason, we strive to create a community for these people to rely on. Here at Ceangal we have seen first-hand the incredible work ethic shown by residents in Direct Provision centres around Ireland. That's why we've started our local candle business: all our products are handmade by asylum seekers and all profits go towards helping communities within Direct Provision. The candles are made of eco-soy wax and all ingredients are sourced in Ireland. We are also currently selling face masks that were handmade by the women of the Saoirse - Ethnic Hands on Deck project. The Community Market is a great opportunity for us to sell the women’s products, which will lead to us needing more stock. This means the asylum seekers will have more work, therefore increasing the amount of income we can provide them with. The Ceangal team is also very excited to be able to raise awareness about the issue of Direct Provision and the lack of support the migrants receive.”-Sam from ‘Ceangal’

 

We hope that the market and the sense of community or ‘meitheal’ (neighborliness) that it inspires on campus continues to grow and evolve. We’ll be alternating and expanding on the stalls at each market to be as inclusive as possible and meet the needs of our community, the UCC community.

Join us at our Community Market Tuesday the 30th of November from 10am - 3pm outside the Hub to see what it’s all about and while you're there you can also enjoy a bite size demo on urban gardening delivered by Cork Roof Top Farm. 

 

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