Textiles and fabrics have always been my thing. I went to Hollings College in Manchester, which is the Toast Rack building. I did clothing design technology and worked in the garment industry in the UK and I worked in the States for a couple of years as well.
I heard about the opportunity at Emmaus South Manchester via a post on Facebook appealing for textile volunteers. It really shouted to me because I’ve never found anything where I could use my skills in such a practical way. Using donated goods, donated fabrics, you name it, whatever comes through the doors, we can make things with it and then sell them. So, it’s a direct way of using my skills and I’ve never found that before.
A rewarding role
I started as a volunteer in April 2021 before the Emporium opened to the public. I was there right at the beginning, working away behind the scenes. I come every Thursday, and sometimes on a Saturday if I can.
The other volunteers are great because we’re all here for the same reason and we’ve got similar interests. What fascinates me is you never know what is going to be donated and what’s going to come through the door and then finding a way to reuse it is fabulous.
We began by making really strong shopping bags, using donated curtain fabrics and trimmings. We put our Emmaus makers labels on them so people would know that volunteers had made them.
Often when we arrive, there are piles of things on the tables. Some of the stuff we can use and other items go straight into the Emporium such as sewing boxes, haberdashery items, needles and other fabric-related things.
A few of the volunteers at Emmaus South Manchester prefer to work from home. If we’ve got a project such as the bags, they’ll come in now and again, to collect a bundle of fabrics and then a couple weeks later they’ll bring back the finished items.
Using our skills to help people
One of the best projects so far was in winter 2022 when we did the draft excluders, with rolls and rolls of fabric. Volunteers cut the fabric up and rolled it into sausages, and then made a nice heavy-duty case for it. We gave them away to the public and the project gained good publicity, driving footfall because people had to come to the Emporium to collect them.
The project raised awareness and did a bit of good for people, helping them stay warm through winter. We have since progressed to the double draft excluders and they’ve proved popular too.
Every week is different. We get to know a lot of the regulars in the Emporium and they’re lovely, lovely people. We have people who donate specific items because they know we’ll make good use of them. Commissions have also become popular as the community discovers our talents.
Sharing our skills and creativity
As a volunteer at Emmaus, I’ve really expanded my own skills. Upholstery is definitely something that for years I’d been wanting to start and get involved with. I’ve recently been learning these skills from another volunteer and it has been great to share our skills with each other.
It breaks our hearts to actually throw anything textile away. We get beautiful quality curtains and rather than chopping them up to use in textile projects, we came up with a way of displaying them out on a rail. They do sell when they’re displayed properly, with dimensions on them. Word spreads, especially with Facebook, and people know we stock good quality, useful items at bargain prices.
You never know what’s going to come through the door and sometimes it’s like social history. We sell the vintage items and are attracting local dealers. We’ve got drawers and drawers of vintage tablecloths and they can be used in other ways. Lots of people have got into crafts from watching videos on YouTube and Facebook these days. I’ve seen some lovely embroidered tablecloths made into dresses.
Our plans for the future
Right at the very beginning, we started developing a plan to introduce six workstations in our room with sewing machines. We want to spread our skills even more by having workshops to introduce basic sewing skills to the community. Those skills can save people money, open up their creativity and give people the ability to mend and repair items.
We’re keen to offer workshops in the same way that the room next door has been used to teach upholstery skills to us volunteers. Teaching people the very basics or repair, sewing and upholstery will help individuals and may get more people interested in volunteering too.
Knowing what can be done and spreading the word about what can be done to save fabric from going to landfill is very satisfying. We have shared fabric with other local community projects too. It’s very good quality fabric and too good to let it go unused. Some of it is 100% wool and a pleasure to work with.
I think volunteering makes me feel valued by the wider world. I have always known my skills are valuable but now it’s more obvious how valuable they can be, especially with the draft excluder project last year. I really enjoy volunteering at Emmaus and being part of a great team, I rarely miss a week.