Làmhan has been set up to address the inequality of access to affordable, high quality sewing tuition in Scotland. The founder of the charity is Jo Watson. Her fellow trustees are James Wylie, Carolyn Seggie and Sarah Chalmers-Page.

Our mission

Làmhan’s mission is to teach, promote, and sustain traditional sewing and textile crafts, with a focus on heritage skills that are in danger of being lost. Through hands-on workshops, apprenticeships, and public education, Làmhan seeks to provide individuals of all ages and backgrounds with the opportunity to develop sewing skills, fostering creativity, self-sufficiency, and a deep connection to Scotland’s textile heritage.

Our vision

The vision is for Làmhan to become a leading centre for textile heritage education in Scotland, renowned for its high-quality training, its contribution to environmental sustainability, and its role in preserving Scotland’s cultural and artistic traditions. Làmhan aspires to be a hub of creativity, where individuals can learn, collaborate, and contribute to a sustainable future by making and mending their own clothing.

Our charitable aims

  • We will provide a wide range of learning opportunities which will improve employability and confidence through the development of skills, providing pathways to qualifications and by offering access to training, volunteering and employment activities

  • We will empower people by teaching them to sew, make & repair their own clothes through workshops, patterns, books and sewing kits

  • We will offer Dress and Textiles Heritage training to people who traditionally face barriers

  • We will advance arts and culture through the promotion, revival and presentation of traditional tailoring, kiltmaking & dressmaking and the provision of creative opportunities to ensure that these skills do not continue to decline and are not lost to history

  • We will advance environmental protection or improvement by the promotion of environmental sustainability, through repair, reuse, reclamation, recycling and use of surplus and leftover materials in our classes