Kings Arms Project

Background
Many of the members of Bedford’s refugee and immigrant populations brought sewing skills and business experience with them from their first countries but have had little opportunity to make use of those skills. King’s Arms Project (KAP) runs an English Club which is attended by 20-30 English learners every week, many of them women. Some of these women have indicated a great interest in being part of a sewing club and developing practical expertise in making clothes or other sewn items and also in learning how to run the business side of a project in England.

Overview
Therefore, with the support of Westhill Endowment, KAP has launched Community Threads, a sewing group which will provide community development and learning opportunities. At Community Threads, people will connect across ethnic backgrounds and work together to improve sewing skills, make items to sell, repair clothes, and learn how to market and sell the things they make.

Expectations for Spring term
Club members will work through a range of hand and machine sewing projects in order, starting at the difficulty level appropriate to them. As the first term goes on, members will be given opportunities to assist with the marketing and sales side of the club alongside a qualified staff member. This will include:

As members develop their sewing skills, we will use social media to invite people to bring their worn or damaged clothes for Community Threads to repair for a fee. This will generate a small amount of income, which will allow us to extend the reach of Westhill Endowment’s grant.

The hand-sewn gift bags will also be filled with spice mixes made by our club members from countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. These will be sold at local Christmas markets for Christmas 2024.
 

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For more information please see:
www.kingsarmsproject.org