Christmas stocking fun!

Hello,

It’s Kirsty here, fresh from Sierra Leone where I got to spend a week catching up with the team, together with our newest trustee, Uttam. 

And what a brilliant week it was! From joining nearly 100 young mothers at their monthly ‘Circle of Confidence’ event, to meeting recent graduates now in work and able to earn an income of their own, it was an inspiring and busy week, as always.

One of our key priorities for the visit was to spend time at the tailoring social enterprise shop. We watched the young tailors at work, learnt more about what they loved to sew, and brainstormed ideas for new products to bring to market, both locally and further afield. 

This led us to the topic of Christmas stockings! Hanging Christmas stockings is not a common thing in Sierra Leone, and certainly not something that the young mothers have learnt to sew. But, hungry to learn, the young mothers grabbed some vibrant fabric, known locally as lappas, to begin testing the idea. ‘I just love that I learn something new each day,’ one girl told us.

I returned home to north Wales with a bag stuffed with stockings, aprons, handbags and headbands, and I’m now busy working to link up to local shops to sell the items. Not only will it help to raise some additional revenue for the enterprise, but it will also be an opportunity to raise awareness and support for the beautiful products being sewn by the young mothers.

In the future, we hope to create a small etsy shop where people in the UK and Canada can buy directly. Hopefully next year, you’ll be able to purchase your very own stocking to hang for Christmas! 

We’ll keep you posted on our progress - don’t hesitate to get in touch with any tips or ideas for marketing and selling the items! 

Kirsty and the team x