Grantee portal 
Sixteen refugees and asylum seekers from South Tyneside have benefitted from six months of professional sewing training and mentoring thanks to a grant from the Watkin Family Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland.
The ‘Learning to Sew Project’ workshops ran by CREST (Compact for Race Equality in South Tyneside) helped BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) women to develop sewing skills and produce their own garments. Beyond this, it provided them with the opportunity to improve their language skills, raise self-esteem and build their confidence, factors that can be significant when seeking work or becoming self-employed.
Su Legg, Senior Philanthropy Advisor at the Community Foundation said:
“The ‘Learning to Sew Project’ is a wonderful example of an organisation using a multi-faceted approach to help reduce isolation, increase aspirations and provide the skills that can be used to find employment. Not only that, but it also helps these women to integrate into their new community.”
Mentors were present at all the workshops supporting individuals facing a range of language, communication and cultural barriers. They also took the the opportunity to signpost other services and training that could benefit them.
Mahida Begum, Chief Executive at CREST said:
“The impact of the sewing class has been tremendous, providing women from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are effected by several compounding issues that create barriers for them in various aspect of their lives with a space to be themselves, be comfortable, be confident and courageous in their hopes and dreams.
“We have been so pleased to see the women learn about each other’s cultures and communities and build new friendships that hopefully will be long lasting as the women pursue similar dreams and aims.”
Many of the women who participated in the programme had limited access to educational opportunities, due to barriers in reading, writing and conversating in English however by the end of the workshops they presented with raised self-esteem and reduced isolation.