Q&A with Paula Gamester

I had always been interested in sewing and fashion ever since I was 14 years of age, I watched the film “The Sound of Music” and was mesmerised when Julie Andrews pulled down the curtains and made a set of play clothes for the Von Trapp children. I thought that was marvellous. I asked my mum to buy me a sewing machine and I’ve been sewing ever since.

In 2007 I heard about a new business model called a community interest company, it trades just like any other business but the difference is that the profits you make is invested into the community where you operate from. Our community is a community of interest and cooperation based in a geographical community of Skelmersdale.

Our focus is on older people, vulnerable women, single parents, unemployed, ex-offenders and families in low-income households. Poverty and disadvantage are shared experiences, we enable and empower people to overcome both situational and structural disadvantages, through personal growth and development.

You have a wealth of experience running several successful businesses, both here and in the UAE. What inspires you to nurture connections to communities and put people’s wellbeing at the heart of your business?

Having previously worked in the Middle East, I had studied at Antwerp as a Diamond Grader at the International Gemmological Institute and went on to set up an exclusive Fashion and Jewellery business with my sister in Dubai in 1996. We held exclusive events in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, The Burj al Arab and Royal Mirage to name just a few.

I now use all my skills, knowledge and experience that I have gained throughout my career to strive towards sustainability and making a profit, so The Sewing Rooms is able to deliver innovative projects and programmes for the community we serve. Our ultimate goal is to create meaningful jobs within sewing production so that the women we train can flourish earn above the living wage and enjoy their work.

Through your Transforming Textile Waste initiative, you have diverted over 20,000 meters of linen from landfill, can you share with us how your collaboration with Marriott International came about, and how the linen was used?

During Covid we were approached by the Marriott Hotel Group, who were reducing plastic use in their hotels, they also had an issue about what to do with their end of life linen bedding. We came up with a prototype laundry bag, and attached a label saying “I used to be a bed sheet, now I’m a laundry bag, choose to reuse”, we were asked to make 200 for a pilot in the Knightsbridge Marriott. The feedback was the customer loved them and the project was rolled out nationally, to date we have made over 30,000 laundry bags.

We have also joined up with the UK Fashion and Textile Association, who represent the industry and have developed a nationally recognised qualification that aims to train people with no experience to become a sewing production machinist. We have delivered this recognised qualification to 21 students, with 5 going on to set up their own businesses, 8 gaining employment, and the rest continuing their learning.

Congratulation on your receiving an MBE in the 2023 Kings Birthday Honours, with the Cabinet Office reporting a focus on “recognising those who have had a profoundly positive impact on how society faces up to the most challenging issues of the modern era.” How has this incredible award affected you and the business, and do you think it has inspired you to go on and reach even more people and communities?

Receiving the MBE was such an honour and joy as it came out of the blue. I was able to take my mum who was 92 my husband and son. What an experience it was for us to go to Buckingham Palace and meet Princess Anne. The memory will stay with me forever and receiving the award has added credibility to what we are doing within The Sewing Rooms.

When the fuel and energy crisis hit, we started to think about how can we help our local families and community, as we work within the textile industry our immediate solution was to make bed throws to keep people warm. Following further research we came across a type of energy saving cooking that goes all the way back to Medieval times.

Inspired by this I designed The Thermal Cooking Bag, it has the potential to save hundreds of pounds per year off your energy bills, and works by cooking your food on top of the stove bringing it to boiling point for 10 minutes, you then place your food in the bag and seal it up then leave for 2 to 3 hrs, the food continues to cook and is still piping hot.

What are you aspirations for The Sewing Room over the next few years, how would you like to see it develop and are there any particular areas you would like to focus on?

We have received funding to help over 600 local families helping them to eat nutritious food and saving them money off their energy bills. My vision is to set up a workers co-operative and launch the Thermal Cooking bag as a commercial product as I see so much potential in the bag, for example camping and touring, as well as outside catering the list is endless.

Find out more about The Sewing Rooms by visiting the-sewing-rooms.co.uk.

 

*Image credit: The Sewing Rooms