About this episode
In this episode with Melanie Keane, she gives us an insightful chat about how running the sewing groups for refugees has impacted her personally. In the 18 months after beginning sewing Melanie was asked 'Do I know anyone who can sew...? 2 weeks later she arrived at the refugee centre with 2 old sewing machines and some donated fabric. 4 months later Melanie had 3 volunteers working with her, 8 fairly decent sewing machines and 15 women in the mixed nationality group. The women were voracious in their making and desperate to sew for their families, repair clothes and just escape from their pitiful circumstances for just a few hours. Families had lived in the oppressive centre for over a year feeling hopeless and depressed. Sewing lifted their spirits, formed new relationships across the different cultures and allowed the women to feel like they were nurturing their families again. Each week Melanie needed 25 metres of fabric and so she reached out to the sewing community, whose generosity astounded her. She ran the project for 15 months until the centre suddenly closed. In this episode Melanie discusses how this impacted her and how she went on to set up another group for vulnerable women at The Lighthouse in Woking, Surrey. If you are able, consider supporting this podcast through our patreon account . There are 3 new tiers to choose from to support SewOver50's only podcast. Every podcast is free and the archive is gradually being uploaded on to the podcast YouTube channel . Sound with permission by Kaneef on YouTube. SewOver50 intersects with all communities. SewOver50 where we are so over ageism. Our focus is the sewing talent each person shares on social media and providing recognition of their willingness to share their skills whether a beginner or experienced sewist. Make sure you listen to your SewOver50 friends in our SewOver50 podcast archive. Use LH7KWCRS to get one month of Stash Hub plus for free, which means you have unlimited uploads and can add more photos to their records. You don't have to enter your payment details to use it. At the end of the month you'll revert to the free version of Stash Hub and you won't lose anything you've already uploaded. Thanks Stash Hub!