Fabrics firm helps communities in Rwanda

A group of women working in a sewing shop in Rwanda were overjoyed to receive a gift of fabric from Preston-based textiles firm SMD Group.

SMD Group, a parent company of luxury fabric and wallcovering creators iLiv, donated curtains, bedding and fabric off-cuts to the Kinamba Community Project, a charity which provides work and educational opportunities for people living in Kigali, Rwanda.

As part of this work the charity has set up a sewing room in a nursery for poor children in Kigali where 15 local women, aged between 26 and 50, make clothes.

The women will use the fabric donated by SMD Group to create dresses, jackets and skirts which they will then sell at the local market and use the profits to support their families and local community.

Jason Kenworthy, managing director of SMD Group, said: “SMD supports a number of causes and we were first made aware of the Kinamba Community Project by our operations director, Jonathan Pink, whose mother works for the charity. It’s a fantastic initiative and we jumped at the opportunity to help.

“It’s been surreal to see the different perception the people in Rwanda have of the value of the fabric and the ladies there have certainly put everything we donated to good use. It’s made a few less fortunate people very happy and we were only too glad to be part of that.”

Agnes, Olive and Amina, who work in the sewing room, sent a message to say: “We are very happy that somebody in the UK is thinking of us, thank you so much for your gift.”

The community of Kilagi was left devastated by the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and The Kinamba Community Project was set up to offer hope to war widows, orphans of the genocide, and the marginalised and vulnerable people living there. SMD Group, which has its headquarters on Pittman Way, is made up of a number of brands including iLiv, iLiv Contract, Swatchbox and SMD Home. It serves the consumer, network retailers and specialists in interior design.