Thanking Britain’s sewing community for its selfless and tireless work, The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant launches The Big Community Sew

We’ve launched The Big Community Sew to help ensure that every person in every community in Britain has the face-covering they need.

There are around six million sewing machines in homes across the UK and if every one of those machines can be used to make just a dozen face coverings that would be enough for every person in the UK.

Sewing is an intensely practical act of kindness and we want this campaign to build on the community efforts established during the pandemic. Check on your neighbours to see if they need face-coverings, just as we asked if they needed help with shopping when we first went into lockdown.

Find out who in your community needs face coverings, and get making. And if you’ve not sewn in a while, we’re providing how-to videos, patterns and guides to help.