Weaving a hopeful future

How refugees are making the journey from despair to hope. Catherine Butcher reports

‘I left my country by foot; it took me nine days to get to Sudan. From Sudan, I went to Egypt which took six months. At sea, I went 12 days with no water or food. I was 15.

‘The Italian coastguard found us as the boat was not working for three days. The boys could not be patient – so they swam. A few died. The lifejackets did not save them.’

Countless refugees leave their homes, families and jobs to find safety, hope and a new life. They end up in refugee camps, often for years before they are resettled. Then they face harsh challenges to integrate into their new communities and find work.

Working together

In 2017, Abi Hewitt co-founded Love Welcomes with women in camps in Greece to help refugees re-gain their self-respect and earn a living to support themselves and their families.

The women have many different skills. One of the Love Welcomes team said, ‘I did fashion design. I am good with sewing; we would sew dresses and skirts.’ Another explained, ‘I worked as a 2D and 3D graphic designer. I worked with computer software.’

Together they are proud to make many beautiful things – weaving, embroidery, crochet, sewing, ceramics, textiles…which often begin with upcycled materials reclaimed from the life vests and blankets worn by frightened, exhausted refugees as they wash up on European shores.

‘But there’s so much more to it than that.’ Abi explains. ‘We believe a loving welcome is transformational, supporting the journey from despair to hope. Woven into the very fabric of our welcome mats, cushions and placemats, this material becomes a part of each beautiful gift that is handcrafted by our strong team of refugee women. They are then sold around the world, with proceeds from each sale going directly to those who wove them.’

Contributions

Just as the women each contributed their skills, Abi contributed her connections, which have helped Love Welcomes make headlines and attract customers. The world renowned, street artist, Banksy, designed the Welcome Mat: hand sew mats, which have the word ‘welcome’ woven into them using the bright orange material from life vests found on beaches in Greece. There is a long waiting list for these mats, which are made in batches of 500 as the materials become available.

Love Welcomes also partnered with legendary U2 guitarist The Edge who created and designed a unique collectors-item guitar strap. Each strap is handwoven by refugee women and includes an orange strip of upcycled life vest.

The prominent British textile artist and designer, Margo Selby, has also collaborated with the women to produce a range of designs hand sewn by a team of refugees out of strips of life vest material and upcycled blanket fabric.

Connections

How did Love Welcomes make these connections? ‘In my personal life I had never felt a sense of direction, so I did lots of different jobs working for bands and artists in the creative arena,’ Abi explains. Her father is a Christian singer‑songwriter and priest, who founded the human rights charity Amos Trust in 1985, so she comes from a background steeped in active Christian faith that informs the Love Welcomes ethos which sees every person as equal and valued.

During 15 years in the USA, Abi worked with Becca Stevens, also a priest, who founded Thistle Farms in Nashville, Tennessee, to provide sanctuary for survivors of trafficking, violence, and addiction.

Abi and Becca visited Greece with a team from Thistle Farms and saw the hundreds of women and children who were seeking sanctuary, often arriving with little more than life jackets from the crowded boats, and blankets from relief agencies. In collaboration with women from the camps, they began Love Welcomes by transforming these items into welcome mats, table runners and other textiles.

At first Love Welcomes provided women with the opportunity to generate an income in the camp. Within a few short months, each woman earned enough for her family to begin a new life. Several have moved on and now run their own businesses in the countries where they have been resettled. Their message to the world was ‘Please tell everyone we are not lazy. We want to contribute to society.’

In this way Abi and the women have begun to change the perception and treatment of refugees as their business model gives women dignity and contributes to their economic and social wellbeing. Since Love Welcomes began, more than 800 women have used their skills to make items to sell. Love Welcomes continues to work with 108 women globally, including 52 women in the camps.

Their base is now in the UK, where 18 refugees from African and Middle Eastern countries have set up the first Love Welcomes micro-community workshop in London. This social enterprise company helps women begin to stitch their lives back together. Every purchase from the online shop lovewelcomes.org creates jobs, which create resources, independence and confidence for the women. They each earn above the Living Wage and have a permanent salary, which gives much needed stability.

Community
‘They all come with a longing to belong, make friends and be accepted,’ Abi says. Love Welcomes provides a safe, supportive community offering training in a range of skills as well as providing access to health and legal support, mother and baby supplies, nutritious food and support for micro businesses. The team spend two-thirds of their time producing the items for sale and one-third learning marketing, conversational English and all other skills needed to run the business.

The hope is that each woman will gain a range of skills, which will enable her to get an interview leading to a job using those skills. Without Love Welcomes’ support, some refugee women had gone for nine years or more without ever being offered a job, even though they had valuable experience in a range of careers.

Anisa from Albania said, ‘My life has completely changed. I am financially independent and I feel very good because I am doing something for myself.’

Sofia from Ethiopia added, ‘You don’t feel like you are employed actually. You feel like you are part of a family. It’s a great team.’

Benita, who is Congolese, said, ‘Now I feel I can provide for myself. I was feeling quote alone in London, so now I can say I have a family.’

Customers

In 2020 the team asked their supporters to send messages of hope to the women in Greece. One of the messages read: ‘When I opened the box with my rug in it I felt so overwhelmed. Me and my daughter stood in the kitchen and cried as we held it. It Is my most prized possession. I stand on it and think of all the suffering you must have gone through, or still do, and on my hardest days I think if you can survive what you have survived, I can do what I need to do in this moment. Moment by moment we get through. And hope pushes us forward. I love you and am so grateful for you.’

As another supporter said: ‘You are not refugees, you are models of courage and kindness. We love you. You are seen. You are heard. You are welcome. Thank you for making our countries better. Thank you for your stunning work. Stay strong.’

For Love Welcomes, the first workshop is just the beginning, Abi says. ‘We can’t stop the refugee crisis that has forced millions of men, women and children to flee their homes out of fear for their lives. But we’re not helpless either. We can help some of the women who arrive to weave a better future for themselves and their families – futures full of hope and purpose.’