Former Sunderland teacher creates 'Reinvented with Friends' upcycle project to help people save both money and the environment

The community interest company (CIC) looks to upcycle furniture to reduce items ending up in landfill and to enable to people furnish their houses in style without the price tag to match.

Ali also uses potential waste fabrics such as old curtains, clothing and lamp shades to make decorative pieces, bags, wall art, clocks and stationary covers.

However, it was the classroom rather than the wokshop, where Ali, 43, began her career.

She said: “I used to teach Dance, along with other subjects, at Farringdon Community Academy, where I worked for 17 years. However, in 2014 I had my twins Elsie and Darcey, and I began to realise the job and my work life balance wasn’t conducive to family life.

"At that time there were also curriculum changes taking place and it became apparent I wasn’t going to be primarily teaching dance. I just remember sitting at the side of stage one day and deciding I didn’t want to do this anymore and I handed in my resignation.”

After freeing herself of the shackles of the chalk-face, with bills still to pay, Ali faced the daunting prospect of changing careers in her late thirties with the pressure of continuing to help provide for her family.

With an Art and Dance degree, Ali wanted to put her creative talents to good use and she enrolled on an upcycling course in Durham.

She said: “I really enjoyed the course and I started upcycling items for my own house. The first thing I upcyled was an old Victorian chair which I bought from a charity shop on Hylton Road.

"The quality of furniture from this period is very high and I really enjoyed bringing it back to life. I also found the whole process fascinating. You can often find a signature on the chair of the person who made it and it really gets you thinking with a piece of furniture of this age about the different households it may have been in and all the different people who may have sat on it.”

After initially upcycling for her own use, Ali established the online independent enterprise Reinvented with Love and began to upcycle furniture for customers. As word of mouth spread about the quality of her work Ali began to take on more projects.

While the venture provided an outlet for Ali’s creative talents, it also facilitated a platform for one of her other passions; living sustainably and protecting the environment.

She said: “I’ve always had an interest in sustainability. Even when I was a kid I remember being interested in how I can save the trees. In my home family life we don’t like to waste anything and I very rarely throw anything out. I’m always conscious of recycling items, so they don’t end up in landfill, and the upcycling business is an extension of this mindset.

"Making something out of what you already have rather than buying from Ikea, means less tress are being cut down for furniture as well as less carbon emissions from transport costs.

"A lot of modern furniture also involves a lot of plastics which can also end up in landfill. At a time when we have the cost of living crisis, making use of what you have and reducing your waste is also a lot more sustainable financially.”

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Just as Ali’s online enterprise was taking off, the Covid pandemic struck. Determined not to be beaten, Ali continued to operate under the Covid regulations at the time with the upcycling even providing a “welcome escape” from the restrictions of lockdown.

She said: “Because I was able to pick items up and drop them off, I was able to continue to operate. I had recently resigned from my job, people were being made redundant and I was also bringing up the twins and my son Harrison, 13.

"With the restrictions of lockdown it was not an easy time and being able to go into my garage and work on a piece of furniture, for that period of time really helped take my mind of the troubles and pressures we were all going through.”

After emerging from the pandemic, Ali changed the name of the enterprise to Reinvented with Friends and set-up as a community interest company operating from a new workshop in Sunniside where the business has gone from strength to strength.

Ali has even gone back to her teaching routes, delivering private and community workshops teaching people the skills of upcycling and how to be more sustainable.

She hopes to play a small part in a significant movement to “change people’s mindset” to create a more sustainable city.

Ali said: “Apart from the beds, pretty much all the furniture in my house is second hand and has been upcycled. Hopefully these workshops will help to educate people on how to reduce waste. Every single item which doesn’t end up in landfill will make a difference and if this is being multiplied across the city then it can have a massive impact.

"Wouldn’t it be great if Sunderland became known as a sustainable city which was leading the way in making a real difference?”

Ali grew up in the Derbyshire town of Glossop and first moved to Sunderland to study at the city’s university. After a brief period working in Darlington, Ali returned to Sunderland in 2001 and has remained in the city ever since.

She said: “I love the people in Sunderland. Me and my husband Phil are definitely adopted Mackems and my three children are fully fledged Mackems.”

You can find out more about Ali’s designs and upcycling courses on the Reinvented with Friends website.