The Touchwood Project

In order to run all three of the pilot projects for which Touchwood has been given a grant, we need to find a volunteer to act as Project Manager for one of the three pilots.

If we don’t, one won’t happen and we will need to return those funds to Awards for All. Malcolm and I are too busy working on the first two and simply don’t have the time to manage all three, so I’m posting here to see if any of you would like to take part.

What’s the project?

The pilot we need help with teaches basic sewing skills through three different classes, each aimed at different types of people and will all be taught by Kirsteen Stewart, local fashion designer and sewing instructor at Orkney College:

“Upcycle” an item of clothing

2-hour or half-day session repurposing an item of clothing in your wardrobe. 12 sewing sessions planned with 3 separate courses:

• Make Your Own Creature for parents and young children
• Junky Style for teens and young adults
• Knockout Knickers for women to make their own knickers

What we need

Someone to act as Project Manager, to make sure this test case happens.

Are you someone who likes organising events? Would you enjoy contacting the local papers and radio to advertise the classes, or figuring out which dates and locations to run the event at?

We have a budget, venue, teacher and course description. The rest needs to be worked out by you and Kirsteen, with Malcolm and myself helping where possible.

What you don’t need to do

Be perfect. Since it’s a pilot, the project (and you) doesn’t need to be flawless — it’s designed to test whether there is an interest and need for courses like this on Orkney and potentially throughout the UK.

We’ll also be testing out how much to charge and where to run courses — we have a mobile classroom thanks to the “kata” tent we have purchased. We’ll do our best to run the courses like a business would, but the bigger goal is to test things out and see what works best.

Finally it’s a chance for Touchwood to lay the groundwork for offering courses in the future, the best of which will run one day at the eco lodge. We have many more potential projects in the pipeline, from building low-cost, eco-friendly houses to teambuilding, and these pilots teach us vital skills to enable us to make those courses a success.

Why volunteer

Because you are someone who likes to make things happen, who will be proud of the fact that this project couldn’t work without you. You enjoy organising things and want Touchwood to continue growing.

You and your family will also be able to participate in all of Touchwood’s projects free of charge, from the Kids Bushcraft courses to the Bit Better Project (countryside walking and trail repairs) to all three sewing courses.

Interested?

Email me at rachel@touchwoodproject.com if you’re interested and want to find out more.

You can also download the Pilot Projects Summary, which explains the projects and Touchwood in more detail, and the Sewing Pilot Project Budget.

Tags: volunteer

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