Thanks for sew many machines
Kind-hearted people from Warwickshire have flocked to help out soldiers wives based at the Gamecock Barracks near Nuneaton.
An appeal was launched by Warwickshire County Council for donations of sewing machines so wives of Ghurka soldiers could learn how to sew.
More than 100 machines have been donated by local residents and county council staff. Tutors have come forward offering to run lessons, which will be open to the local community as well as the soldiers’ wives.
The appeal was organised as part of the county council’s work in developing extended services in the local community. The aim is to use schools as local bases for activities, meeting any particular needs as well as offering advice and access to information. One of the core offers in the Extended Services scheme is to help identify needs in family learning.
Following the stream of donations lessons are now going to be arranged at George Eliot Community School in Nuneaton, Wolvey C of E Primary School and at the barracks.
Linda Aston, Extended Services Development Officer, said: “It’s amazing to see how people in Nuneaton and Bedworth have got behind this scheme. We are thrilled to have so many machines. It means that we will be able to offer the chance for lots of people in the community to learn new skills.”
Captain Simon McGaw, Welfare Office for the 30 Signal Regiment, said: “From our point of view it’s great that we’ve been able to work with the local community to help with the education and welfare needs of not only the Ghurka wives but the whole camp.
“Since this appeal was made a lot of the British wives have shown an interest in learning to sew. We hope this will lead on to other learning opportunities for our families and I would like to thank everyone who has donated these machines.”
Sue Holland, who works for Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Service, was one of the people who donated a machine that had been in her family for generations.
She said: “I inherited my machine from my grandmother, who died when I was about ten.
“Over the years it has helped me make clothes for my dolls when I was a child, mini skirts as a teenager, and lots of children’s clothes when I became a mum, plus tablecloths, curtains, cushion covers etc as a wife! I do hope that the new owner will get just as much out of it as I have – I even found the instruction book from the early 1900s!“