Over 90 Leeds Beckett students collaborate to bring together vintage pop-up shop to support Oxfam

The one-day pop-up event, held on 18 March 2025 at the City Campus Students' Union, had 98 students directly involved in bringing together the successful pop-up shop which raised thousands of pounds for Oxfam.

Some of the students involved were those from Marketing Management and Marketing with Advertising Management, who brought their academic knowledge into the real world as part of their level 5 module to curate the store layout, plan promotional activity, and manage the smooth-running operations for 1,200 visitors throughout the day.

This year’s event was notable not only for its fundraising success but also for the diverse student involvement. The project included contributions from 15 courses across four academic schools including Business, Arts, and Computing.

Students from Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing, Journalism, Digital Marketing, Illustration, Music Performance and Production, Robotics and Engineering, and Business and Management all played a role in the pop-up shop community and brought the concept to life.

The pop-up also featured a clothing mending and repair workshop, run by fashion students allowing visitors to learn how to extend the life of their clothing and reduce textile waste.

Molly Redmond, BA (Hons) Fashion student, talks about her experience: "I had an amazing opportunity to volunteer and help out at the Oxfam pop-up shop at a workshop focusing on different ways to mend, repair and enhance old and used clothes to prolong their life and to stop clothes ending up in landfill! I had a great time meeting new people and sharing my skills with others during the day! It was a great insight into the industry!"

Other highlights included a photo booth installation, created by a student team to enhance engagement and encourage online sharing. BA (Hons) Marketing with Advertising Management student Holly Waugh explains: "My team were responsible for running the photo booth at the pop-up, and we designed a beautiful living wall with colourful flowers and fairy lights for people to take pictures in the mirror to remember the day and their positive experience. I think it was really successful, as we collected lots of positive feedback throughout the day, with many customers saying they loved the wall and would post it online, as well as finding out they heard about the booth before the launch of the pop-up, suggesting our buzz communications via social media, WoM and posters worked in generating awareness and excitement."

Students delivered a thriving online campaign to support the in-person event, with 183 Instagram posts and a total reach of 47.9k views, driven entirely by student content creation and promotion.

Dr Esther Pugh, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Fashion Retailing and Consumer Behaviour led the initiative and guided the students throughout the process added: "After my PhD, this was one of the biggest achievements in my 16 years at Leeds Beckett University. This was the students' work and it showcased their creativity and energy. We had a hugely successful day, raising important funds for Oxfam and as well as selling lots of pre-loved donated clothes, the students also researched consumer behaviour. I am planning next year's event already and we plan to get even more students, in different schools, courses and subject groups, involved. I plan to continue to build student community and belonging, whilst promoting and celebrating sustainable fashion."

The Oxfam pop-up serves as a flagship example of experiential learning in action. To discover more about Marketing or Fashion courses at Leeds Beckett, visit our Marketing, Public Relations, and Journalism page.