THE eco-conscious mayoress of Colchester has committed to not buying any new clothes during her year in office as she strives to combat fast fashion.

Nicola Goodchild, who was sworn in earlier this year alongside her partner, Mayor Tim Young, has launched the Dress the Mayoress campaign.

The idea behind the initiative is to encourage the city’s residents to consider re-using and recycling the clothes they already own as opposed to buying new clobber.

As part of the scheme, Nicola has vowed to only wear pre-loved clothes for the entire year and has asked locals to send her photos of them in their own special outfits.

Every month, when she has an event to attend, she will select one of the outfits to wear for the day, before washing it and giving it back.

Any money she would have spent on new clothing for the events, Nicola will donate towards the £50,000 she and the Mayor plan to try to raise during their charity year.

Nicola said: “I have committed to not buying any new clothes for our entire year in office, in order to highlight the joys of reusing and recycling pre loved clothes.

“This ties in with our additional theme of endeavouring to be as eco-considerate as possible for the year.”

To find out more visit facebook.com/groups/1158940941575272.