More Than Just Crafting Together

Special needs, learning disabled, neuro-diverse... so many terms we hear often accompanied by promises of more - more interest, more opportunities, more funding.  

Yet only 4 - 8% of adults with learning disabilities in Scotland are in any kind of meaningful paid employment. 

Now a social enterprise in West Dunbartonshire is challenging that shocking reality.  

Long term readers of the Clydesider will remember a 2021 article about the crafting group Crafting Together (CT), the brainchild of two teachers at Kilpatrick School, for children and young adults with additional support needs in Clydebank.  

Linda Murray and Elaine McIlree were often saddened and frustrated when meeting former pupils whom they knew had creative skills and talents but when asked 'what are you doing now,' invariably answered, 'nothing much'. 

Five years on, CT is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in the Titan Enterprise Centre alongside architects, engineers, and energy companies.  

Business is thriving and the jewellery and handicrafts they design, and produce are sold across the country from the island of Iona to the gift shop at the Scottish Parliament.  

The CIC now has 21 Artists and Makers, 19 volunteers and four part-time staff. Elaine and Linda share the role of Project Coordinator, Flo Dwyer is the Art Coordinator, Linda also has the role of Jewellery Coordinator, and Claire Dean is Sales and Marketing Coordinator.   

“It is important to understand that Crafting Together is not just a club,” stresses Claire.  

“It is a business. The Makers and staff work to develop marketable ideas, turn those ideas into products, and find retailers to sell their jewellery and gifts, just like any other artisans.”  

Elaine explains: “At this moment we are more like a co-operative where profits from sales are ploughed back to give the Makers subsistence and travel money.  

 Our goal is to become a fully sustainable social enterprise paying Makers a wage.  

She sighs. “The complexities involved are considerable. When we say we are working towards employability it must be accompanied with a when, where and for what employment and preferably also for how long?” 

 The artisan Makers of CT are enthusiastic.  

 Caitlyn, one of the jewellery-makers, comments: “It's not just that I've learnt to focus, follow a pattern, work to exact measurements, CT also gives me a focus for trips with my supporter.  

 “I like to go to the different places our things are on sale and ask how they're selling. I enjoy going to markets. I'm really looking forward to selling at the pipe-band championships.” 

 Ben not only makes jewellery, he also created a range of digitally worked drawings of iconic landmarks: the Singer clock, the Waverley paddle steamer, the Armadillo building - creating the Clyde Connections range. 

 Kenny an artist and beadworker says: “I love that I can get an idea, and then we turn it into something for sale. I really like to see people buy what I make.”

 Crafting Together not only has a positive impact here in Scotland, their beads, including the Scotland Map Collection, are made by an artisan in Uganda.  

 “A group of friends travel regularly to Uganda. They take Scotland street maps supplied by publisher Harper Collins to the charity Awamu, which works with women and children in the slums of Kampala,” explains Linda.  

 “Sarah Namaganda and her group turn them into beautiful beads. When the beads come back they are inventoried by the makers. Mikey has learned to count, measure and mark off the beads sent back.  

 “We are learning what returns, how many bracelets and earrings we can make with how many maps.” 

 While Mikey checks inventory, his brother Aiden works at a truly impressive speed to produce strung bead bracelets.  

 In my short visit both Ben and Aidan, despite the fiddly work, made five pieces each. With a growing number of retailers, the Makers work hard to ensure the quality of their products. They do this with focus and enthusiasm. 

Elaine explains: “It is important to understand CT produces high-quality products. We want people to buy them because they like them, because they are lovely, not because of who made them.” 

 “But it is nice we have QR codes – that's another thing I've learned about – and people can see us making the jewellery,” Caitlyn adds. 

 The boxes and packaging for all Crafting Together’s jewellery and gifts have QR code links to photos and information about the Maker, allowing buyers to see how their purchase enhances someone's life. 

 The CT Makers also had the great satisfaction of hearing that, in Kampala, Sarah had earned enough to move out of the slums and build her own house for her family and the orphans she cares for. 

 “Tourists love the Map Collection as they can take a little piece of Scotland home with them,” says Claire.  

 The Crafting Together studio is a hive of creativity with workshops in jewellery-making, art & design and sewing, with the teams collaborating on new ideas. The art team hand-form and paint ceramic beads for the jewelleryteam to use making necklaces, earrings and bracelets.  

 They also have exclusive designed tea-towels and aprons made by the sewing team using fabric hand-painted by the art team. The ability to communicate, develop products as a company is just one more skill. 

 Inspiration often comes from outings and trips. Danielle Hardie’s Rennie Mackintosh style t-shirt design, the Makers’ unofficial uniform, followed a trip to Kelvingrove Museum. The Clyde Connections range, including a tea towel and greeting cards, was born out of a landmarks drawing project along the River Clyde. 

The Artists and Makers are also available for commissions. One recent project was artwork for a new coffee blend, created for Down River Coffee in Port Glasgow. Another was creating a logo for the Revitalising Clydebank regeneration project. 

 This is a community company with real growth potential and a place where adults with learning disabilities can truly flourish.