Latest news with #Creamfields
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Small and mighty, that's what we are': the team turning discarded tents into bags
When Lauren Mason volunteered to help with the cleanup at a festival two years ago, she had no idea it would change the course of her life. She'd heard about the tents being dumped and left behind. Her mother, she says, is 'an amazing seamstress', so Mason thought she might be able to use some of the material to make clothes. 'I originally went to clean up with the idea to make my own jacket. But that's when I realised the problem was bigger than we thought.' As festivalgoers at Creamfields packed up and left, Mason was dumbfounded by the numbers of tents strewn in the fields. Growing up, borrowing kit had been the norm for camping and festivals because the gear was expensive; Mason had always felt a duty of care to the equipment she was bringing. 'It was just a rule that unless your tent got set on fire, you packed it up dry and took it home.' But at Creamfields about 80% of the tents had been left behind, to be bulldozed and sent straight to landfill. 'It is disheartening, when people are doing what they can. It's a hard juxtaposition.' Mason made a TikTok about all the pristine goods left behind at the festival, before switching off her phone and heading off to visit her brother. The next time she switched her phone on, the video had gone viral, amassing millions of views. It was at this moment that Mason realised there was an opportunity to do something bigger. That summer Mason co-founded Retribe, along with her friend Benjamin Harman, with the aim of collecting tents from festivals and upcycling them into all sorts of new items: tote bags, bottle carriers, clothes, accessories. Every piece is unique and made with as little waste as possible. 'Even if your tent's broken, that material is great for loads of other things. That's what we're trying to show people,' Mason says. An estimated 250,000 tents a year are left behind at festivals, according to the Association of Independent Festivals. 'People see it as part of the price tag – as more of a throwaway. It's really sad,' Mason says. 'These tents are made out of nylon or polyester, which takes hundreds of years to decompose. I've got a five-year-old and a seven-year-old son, and when I show them pictures they can't believe it: 'Did the police get them, Mummy?' Even they understand recycling.' This article includes content provided by TikTok. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Overconsumption is a very modern invention. After the second world war, rising prosperity, globalisation and technological advancements led to our throwaway culture. Why not buy a jacket in three sizes and throw away the spares when it's mass produced abroad for almost nothing and shipped directly to your door? Each year the UK generates about 1.7m tonnes of textile waste. The clothes that don't go straight to landfill can end up polluting beaches in Ghana or piled up in the Atacama desert. Retribe is part of a wider fight against such overconsumption and harmful waste. In the last few years there has been a global explosion in the secondhand clothes market through sites such as Vinted or Depop. It has grown 2.7 times faster than the overall clothing market, according to research from the resale platform ThredUp. And the culture of repair and upcycling has gone mainstream, with TV programmes such as The Repair Shop, and viral TikTok and Instagram coverage of upcycling furniture or clothes. Last year, the EU passed a landmark right to repair law that means if something breaks, the manufacturer has to repair the product for a reasonable price and within a reasonable timeframe after the legal guarantee period. 'People are learning at the minute,' says Mason. 'Bigger companies, smaller companies, we're all learning about how bad everything we've done in the last 50 years has been for our planet, and what we can do after a product gets to the end of its life. 'Even if we're just encouraging one person not to bin their tent, that's 10 metres of fabric, minimum, going to landfill for hundreds of years. But if we can make a tote bag out of that for them to use for shopping, and now they don't have to buy carrier bags any more, that's amazing! We need to make these small changes to make a bigger difference in the end. Small and mighty, that's what we are.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Retribe has upcycled more than 500 tents and wants to take more. But it's not easy running a sustainable startup. It operates from a small factory floor in Sheffield, primarily making pieces to order so that it doesn't overproduce. Lauren does a lot of the sewing herself, helped by her mum, her best friend, her husband, and anybody who has a minute to spare. 'When I was looking into grants and funding, the main ones were for sustainability around technology, and I just didn't fall into that bracket. It was really frustrating. So I took out a startup loan and some weeks my sales don't even cover those payback costs. 'There's not enough [funding] out there for this sort of thing. I know a lot of companies are upcycling on a bigger scale who get grants from the EU, and that's all finished now for us. I do feel like we're behind in the UK.' Nevertheless, seeing her products out there keeps Lauren going. She also runs workshops teaching people how to upcycle. 'I've not had one person in these workshops walk away without being able to sew, or a product that's saved. People really surprise you, and encouraging other people to upcycle feels like a really big win for me.'
Daily Mirror
28-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Homeless Brit backpacker's glam life before Peru - uni, festivals and adventure
Concern grew for Hannah Almond, a fashion graduate from Grimsby in Lincolnshire, after she became stranded from her friends in Peru during a backpacking holiday A British tourist who vanished in Peru has been found sleeping on the streets after being violently attacked and having all her possessions stolen. Hannah Almond, 32, was discovered slumped on the pavement by a Good Samaritan days after she got separated from her pals in Cusco, a city in the Andes. Writing on a GoFundMe page, one friend described the breakthrough as "a huge relief". Hannah travelled to Peru in March on a yoga retreat to "find herself," friends say. However, Hannah lost contact with her friends, and thugs allegedly moved in and burned her possessions. She lost her phone and passport and was left penniless after the attack. Fears for Hannah's safety increased when she vanished after the same locals evicted from the spot where she had been sleeping rough with an elderly homeless man for a month. The traders were filmed pushing and threatening the former Leeds Beckett University fine arts student from Grimsby before she disappeared. One witness said: "The aggressive ones on Ejercito Avenue… dragged and beat the foreigner. I will never shop at those stores again. She knocked on many doors and no one opened them, the grandfather was the only one who welcomed her with little or nothing that he had. She didn't have anyone to give her a glass of water or a roof to sleep under." The story has made national news in Peru and speaking earlier this week, a family friend said: "She is one of the most pure loving souls ever - she is very generous and always wants to help people. But she does not trust anyone after getting robbed and assaulted. Some locals burned all her belongings from under the bridge. "She was contacting her mum every now and then through other people's phones. Police went to check on her two days ago and she has not been seen since. Cusco is a trafficking hotspot, so it's very worrying." One post on the GoFundMe page reads: "She was robbed and assaulted, losing her passport, phone, and all of her money. Since then, Hannah's mental health — something she has long struggled with — has severely declined. "She is now in the midst of a mental health crisis, living under a bridge with a homeless man she befriended — the only person she currently trusts. Despite attempts to help her through official channels, Hannah is deeply fearful and unable to accept support from the embassy or local authorities. She is extremely vulnerable, isolated, and not safe living on the streets of Peru." Hannah, who is understood to be single, is no stranger to living abroad, having previously spent eight months in Portugal and travelled parts of Asia including Thailand and Vietnam. When she's at home in the UK, fun-loving Hannah regularly festivals like Creamfields with her pals, sharing photos of her antics on social media. Mark Atkinson, the British Consul in Peru, told local media Hannah arrived in Cusco in early March as a tourist and did not plan to overstay her visa, but her immigration status is now in limbo. He added that despite their best efforts to help, she keeps going back to the bridge. "Sometimes we've paid for hotel stays, given her money for food, that sort of thing. But she always ends up coming back here." Thankfully, Hannah has now been found by a Good Samaritan, Piero Villanueva, who she had met briefly in Lima earlier in her trip. He flew to Cusco last week from his home to help in the search for Hannah. He posted selfie photos of the pair together as he confirmed she was 'safe and well.' Piero told a local TV station late yesterday: 'I have just found her. She is safe and well. I'd like to thank the authorities and the people who contacted me to so I could help her.' He added: 'A friend of Hannah is arriving in Cusco today and I'm talking with him to be able to assist her. Hannah and her mum haven't spoken yet. I'm talking with her mum but she's an elderly lady and we don't want to worry her anymore. Hannah recognised me and approached me crying and I asked her to leave with me. Thanks God she's safe. We have to see now what's going to happen, talk with Hannah's mum and see what she wants to do." While a friend said: "It is a huge relief that she has been found, when she stopped contacting people we were worried she had been trafficked and we would never hear from her again. He (Piero) found her just asleep on the street, and one of her friends has flown out from the UK to Cusco to try and persuade her to come home. We want her home in the next few days." In an update on a GoFundMe page set up over the weekend to help bring Hannah back to the UK, a friend Sophie Wallace said: 'Due the help of everyone sharing the story, Hannah has thankfully been found and one of her friends is on the way to Cusco to persuade her to accept support and come home. "We know she has been refusing help due to the complexity of her mental health so it is most likely that she will need to placed into psychiatric care before getting a flight back. This is an ongoing process but we are doing all we can to bring her back safely.'
Wales Online
21-05-2025
- Wales Online
Mum jailed after what she did with two Kinder Eggs at a festival
Mum jailed after what she did with two Kinder Eggs at a festival After entering the security tent, Sian Bullock was stopped by security staff Drug dogs detected the Kinder Eggs on Sian Bullock (Image: Facebook ) A woman has been jailed after she was found with Kinder Eggs filled with drugs at a festival in 2023. Mum-of-four, Sian Bullock attended Creamfields festival in Cheshire on August 26, 2023. The 35-year-old was stopped by security after going into the security tent at the north gate entrance due to a positive indication by a drugs dog, Chester Crown Court heard. She was then taken to a private area where she admitted to officers that she had two Kinder Egg containers inside her vagina that contained 64 MDMA tablets. When being questioned, Bullock, of Thornton-Cleveleys in Fylde, claimed that she did not know what the drugs were, but admitted that she had bought them for personal use, the court heard. She was later charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Don't miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here Creamfields is attended by around 80,000 people - and will feature the likes of Fatboy Slim and Calvin Harris this year (Image: Liverpool Echo ) Bullock appeared in court on Friday, May 16 where she pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to three years in prison, the Manchester Evening News reported. Article continues below The judge said during the sentencing hearing that although Bullock had admitted her guilt and the fact that she was a mother of four, she knew what she was doing was wrong . The judge also sated that they had no option but to give her a custodial sentence. Following Bullock's sentencing, Police Constable Lisa Green of Cheshire Constabulary, said: "Every year, we and the Creamfields events and security teams do our utmost to ensure that everyone attending the festival can have a safe and enjoyable time, and for the most part festivalgoers have respected the laws. "Bullock will have no doubt been aware of these laws and the restrictions at Creamfields and would have had ample opportunity to re-think her actions before it was too late, with amnesty bins and surrender points placed at all festival entries, but she decided to run the risk - which did not pay off. 'As a result of her selfish actions that day, she is now behind bars and her four children will now be without their mother for a considerable period of time. "Anyone who, like Bullock, decides to risk bringing illegal drugs into Cheshire should seriously reconsider their choices, as we will always take swift and robust action, and they will be dealt with to the full extent of the law." Article continues below
Daily Mirror
21-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Mum-of-four locked up because of what she did with a Kinder Egg at festival
Sian Bullock, 35, from Fylde, was stopped by security at Creamfields festival, in Cheshire, and admitted that she had Kinder Eggs filled with drugs hidden in an intimate part of her body A mum-of-four has been jailed after she was caught hiding drug-filled Kinder Eggs in an intimate part of her body at a music festival. Sian Bullock, 35, attended the popular Creamfields festival in Daresbury, Cheshire, on August 26, 2023, where she was quickly caught. After entering the security tent at the north gate entrance, she was then stopped by security staff due to a positive indication by a drugs dog, a court heard. The mum, from Thornton-Cleveleys in Fylde, was then taken to private area by officers where she admitted that she had two of the Kinder Egg containers secreted in her vagina which contained 64 MDMA tablets. In questioning Bullock claimed that she didn't know what the drugs were, but told of how she had purchased them for personal use, Chester Crown Court heard. Despite her claim, she was later charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Bullock, of Halton Avenue in Thornton-Cleveleys, appeared in court on May 16, where she was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to the offence, reported the Manchester Evening News. During the sentencing hearing, the judge stated that while Bullock had admitted her guilt and the fact that she is a mother of four children, she knew what she was doing was wrong which meant a custodial sentence was the only option. Following Bullock's sentencing, Police Constable Lisa Green of Cheshire Constabulary, said: "Every year, we and the Creamfields events and security teams do our utmost to ensure that everyone attending the festival can have a safe and enjoyable time, and for the most part festivalgoers have respected the laws. "Bullock will have no doubt been aware of these laws and the restrictions at Creamfields and would have had ample opportunity to re-think her actions before it was too late, with amnesty bins and surrender points placed at all festival entries, but she decided to run the risk - which did not pay off. 'As a result of her selfish actions that day, she is now behind bars and her four children will now be without their mother for a considerable period of time. "Anyone who, like Bullock, decides to risk bringing illegal drugs into Cheshire should seriously reconsider their choices, as we will always take swift and robust action, and they will be dealt with to the full extent of the law."
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Mum-of-four locked up because of what she did with a Kinder Egg at Creamfields
A mum-of-four has been jailed after she was caught with drug-filled Kinder Eggs at the Creamfields festival in Cheshire. Sian Bullock, 35, attended the huge event in Daresbury on August 26 2023. After entering the security tent at the north gate entrance, she was then stopped by security staff due to a positive indication by a drugs dog, a court heard. The mum, from Thornton-Cleveleys in Fylde, was then taken to private area by officers where she admitted that she had two of the Kinder Egg containers secreted in her vagina which contained 64 MDMA tablets. READ MORE: Bury murder: Man, 19, killed after being hit by car in 'targeted attack' named and pictured READ MORE: Parents issued urgent warning after school pupil is 'threatened with knife' in park Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp group HERE In questioning Bullock claimed that she didn't know what the drugs were, but told of how she had purchased them for personal use, Chester Crown Court heard. Despite her claim, she was later charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Bullock, of Halton Avenue in Thornton-Cleveleys, appeared in court on May 16, where she was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to the offence. During the sentencing hearing, the judge stated that while Bullock had admitted her guilt and the fact that she is a mother of four children, she knew what she was doing was wrong and that a custodial sentence was the only option. Following Bullock's sentencing, Police Constable Lisa Green of Cheshire Constabulary, said: "Every year, we and the Creamfields events and security teams do our utmost to ensure that everyone attending the festival can have a safe and enjoyable time, and for the most part festivalgoers have respected the laws. "Bullock will have no doubt been aware of these laws and the restrictions at Creamfields and would have had ample opportunity to re-think her actions before it was too late, with amnesty bins and surrender points placed at all festival entries, but she decided to run the risk - which did not pay off. 'As a result of her selfish actions that day, she is now behind bars and her four children will now be without their mother for a considerable period of time. "Anyone who, like Bullock, decides to risk bringing illegal drugs into Cheshire should seriously reconsider their choices, as we will always take swift and robust action, and they will be dealt with to the full extent of the law." --- Day in day out, our reporters in the Manchester Evening News newsroom bring you remarkable stories from all aspects of Mancunian life. However, with the pace of life these days, the frenetic news agenda and social media algorithms, you might not be getting a chance to read it. That's why every week our Features and Perspectives editor Rob Williams brings you Unmissable, highlighting the best of what we do - bringing it to you directly from us. Make sure you don't miss out, and see what else we have to offer, by clicking here and signing up for MEN Daily News. And be sure to join our politics writer Jo Timan every Sunday for his essential commentary on what matters most to you in Greater Manchester each week in our newsletter Due North. You can also sign up for that here. You can also get all your favourite content from the Manchester Evening News on WhatsApp. Click here to see everything we offer, including everything from breaking news to Coronation Street. If you prefer reading our stories on your phone, consider downloading the Manchester Evening News app here, and our news desk will make sure every time an essential story breaks, you'll be the first to hear about it. And finally, if there is a story you think our journalists should be looking into, we want to hear from you. Email us on newsdesk@ or give us a ring on 0161 211 2920.
