STITCH THE GAP CLINCHES £50K PRIZE AT SCOTTISH EDGE AWARDS
Sew far so good! An innovative social enterprise is celebrating after winning a prestigious Dragon’s Den-style competition.
Stitch the Gap CIC, which has bases in both Kirkintilloch and Milngavie, clinched the £50,000 top prize in the acclaimed Scottish EDGE awards.
The Scottish EDGE Awards were established in 2013 and are supported by the Scottish Government, the Hunter Foundation, RBS and Scottish Enterprise.
Founders of the Stitch the Gap, Amanda Stark and Patricia Papworth, triumphed in the social enterprise category for their work to deliver sewing skills to repair, reuse and repurpose textiles, with tangible impacts on positive mental wellbeing and the environment.
Strathkelvin and Bearsden MSP Rona Mackay put forward a motion at the Scottish Parliament congratulating Amanda and Patricia on their success.
Presenting them with the framed motion, Ms Mackay said: “What a wonderful initiative. I am continually amazed by the innovative social entrepreneurs in my constituency.
“This award is thoroughly deserved and I congratulate Amanda and Patricia on their success. I am sure their social enterprise has a bright future.”
As well as sewing classes and alterations, Stitch the Gap offer sewing machine repair and servicing.
Amanda and Patricia said the award was for the whole team at Stitch the Gap and added: “We’ve still not come down from the excitement of it all!”
They said they are “passionate about bridging the sewing machine skills gap so that this valuable, life-long skill is not lost in our generation.
“We believe that we can only affect environmental change by equipping people with the skills and knowledge to do this.
“We also re-invest back into our local community to ensure that sewing machine skills are very much in evidence here.”
Amanda and Patricia received the award on behalf of Stitch the Gap from Sir Tom Hunter at an awards dinner at Edinburgh which was also attended by First Minister Humza Yousaf.
Some 24 enterprises shared this year’s £1.4 million prize pot to develop their activities.
For more information on Stitch the Gap, its sewing classes, or how to donate scrap fabric to the social enterprise, visit https://www.stitchthegap.com/
Photo caption: Amanda and Patricia, founders of Stitch the Gap are pictured receiving a framed motion from Rona Mackay MSP