skip to main content
Accessibility
help
A young person with dark hair stands in front of a group of fashion mannequins. Wearing a black jumper, they hold a brightly coloured tote bag, which features swirls of blue, purple and red
Image: Martin Shields

Magazine /

A young Scot designs charity tote with John Lewis to “represent the brilliance of care experienced people”

Posted 19.01.24 by Alice Hinds

Arts care experience charity children and young people design Fundraising

A care experienced student from Glasgow has designed a new charity tote bag in partnership with retailer John Lewis, helping to raise vital funds while also inspiring young people in the care system to discover their talent.

Selected by Who Cares? Scotland (click here for more) as an individual with bags of potential, 18-year-old Michael Archibald was given the opportunity to work with the in-house design team at Saatchi & Saatchi as part of the retailer’s Building Happier Futures programme, which recruits people with care experience to work in its department stores.

The first item in a new range of products the retailer says will create more opportunities for designers with care experience, profits from sales of Michael’s bold and stylish bag – available for just £12 – will go to Action for Children, Home-Start UK, and Who Cares? Scotland.

Discussing the inspiration behind the bag, Michael said: “The stars on the bag represent the brilliance of care experienced people, and the surrounding clouds depict the love, care and respect these individuals need.

“Creative industries are such a competitive field and being given the chance to create a product that is actually my own design – and see it physically in store – is an amazing experience. It’s made me feel like I’m able to go places.”

Queralt Ferrer, John Lewis' Director of Design for Fashion, added: “We set out to design a tote bag, but beyond that, our brief to Michael was very open. We could see he has a keen eye for aesthetics, and the ability to create authentic and captivating designs.”

In 2023, the Building Happier Futures (click here for more) programme generated £1.1million for care experience charities, including supporting Who Cares? Scotland to hold events for 880 people.

Related content

A young child puts soil in small plant pots wit their hands, helped an adult, who sits in the background. They both wear checked shirts.

Magazine /

Keep Scotland Beautiful launches Pocket Garden Design Competition for nursery and school pupils

Posted 16.01.24 by Alice Hinds

design Education environment schools

Children across Scotland are being encouraged to take inspiration from “nature’s engineers” as Keep Scotland Beautiful launches the annual Pocket Garden Design Competition.

Held in partnership with the Garden for Life Forum (click here for more), the charity is inviting nursery and school pupils aged three to 18 to design a miniature pocket-sized garden, which includes food for people, something reusable, and items that are good for protecting wildlife.

With the competition aiming to help children better understand the link between sustainability and natural engineering, from bee hives to bird nests, the environmental charity says the new theme of “nature’s engineers” will shine a light on the incredible homes that animals build, reinforcing their role in creating whole ecosystems, and highlighting how modern green technology can be inspired by the natural world.

Open for submissions until Friday 23 February 2024, designers of the best entries will be invited to build and grow their garden at school, with the finished project then filmed or photographed for use in an online interactive garden, which will be launched in June. Members of the public will then be able to vote for their favourite garden.

White text on a blue background saying Pocket Garden Design Competition above an image of garden items including a shovel, watering can and a pair of wellies

Eve Keepax, Education and Learning Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We’re pleased to announce our ninth Pocket Garden Design Competition with its new theme. Nature’s engineers are amazing and we’re excited to see how this theme inspires pupils’ imaginations.

“Schools tell us that their pupils love taking part in this competition and it’s a great way to bring learning for sustainability alive. It’s also a great way for pupils to learn about how they can be part of making Scotland a nature positive place whether they’re interested in bees, beavers, birds or buildings.”

Last year, Keep Scotland Beautiful (click here for more) received almost 200 entries to the competition, and 42 finalists saw their designs included in the digital showcase.

Educators considering taking part in this year’s competition are invited to come along to a Meet the Mentors twilight session on 17 January to find out more. Click here to register

For more information and inspiration from past competition entries, click here to visit the Keep Scotland Beautiful website: keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden

Related content

Design is for everyone

16 December 2021

Head of Learning at V&A Dundee, Jo Mawdsley, on how good design can bring us together, foster wellbeing and strengthen partnerships

Design shapes our world. It's part of everyday life and it's everywhere. V&A Dundee is a museum with a vision of the future where everyone is inspired through design and recognises its far-reaching impact in our lives.

As a result of the pandemic, the museum was acutely aware of how crucial good design is to all of us. Good design is about equity, value, access, and joy. Reflecting on our role as a 21st century design museum and a centre for design excellence in Scotland, we have been refreshing our mission and vision.

Following the appointment of our wonderful new director, Leonie Bell, we have been on a journey in recent months to examine what we are, what we do and how we can make changes and a lasting impact for the future.

Things have changed this past year or so, and this is true for V&A Dundee. We are a pivotal part of Dundee, a city which is transforming. Throughout lockdown we engaged hundreds of families through our fun Design Busters hotline – every week a new challenge would be shared with budding designers via the special phone line. These design challenges encouraged intergenerational learning in fun and creative ways, using things most people have around their home.

Deepening our reach and impact across the community

Through our Learning Programmes, we are building on and developing a programme for all, that has at its core care, health and wellbeing.

Our successful and ongoing partnership with social empowerment, Dundee-based organisation Front Lounge has welcomed a new cohort of seven young people from their Kindred Clothing project. The eight-week course, Totes Sewing, is an introduction to machine sewing skills in which participants design and create bags inspired by the museum. What is so lovely about this project is that the participants, many of them young mums, feel so much part of the museum, using our studio space to socialise with each other and their young children.

We are developing a strong relationship with our fellow members of Children in Scotland and Families Outside – a national charity that works solely on behalf of families in Scotland affected by imprisonment. A series of outreach workshops is being developed with one of the outputs being some wonderful Christmas tree decorations designed by a group in Castle Huntly that will be displayed on the tree in the museum.

Promoting community health and wellbeing

Following on from the success of our first health and wellbeing trail, Labyrinth, we continue to work closely with medical students from the University of Dundee and design students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design to develop the second trail, Orikalmi – aimed at people who are feeling stressed, under pressure and experiencing anxiety. Using design, architecture, and museum spaces as a starting point for exploration and reflection, the trails will be available to anyone and will be distributed in partnership with NHS Tayside.

Sensory-Friendly Days for families and communities are core to our programme and offer a more relaxed way to enjoy the museum for those with autism spectrum conditions, sensory processing differences or profound and multiple learning difficulties. We work with key partners across the city, such as Dundee Carers Centre and Capability Scotland, to build on this programme.

This is just a taste of some of the wonderful programmes and activities we offer, so if you are interested in learning more about how you can engage with V&A Dundee, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Click here for more information about V&A Dundee

 

About the author

Jo is Head of Learning at V&A Dundee

Click here for more

Increasing access to arts and heritage

Our Living Museums projects explores how the sector can engage 14-21-year-olds

Click here for more

25 and Up: improving access to the arts

As part of our 25 Calls campaign update, artists told us why creativity must be a the core of child support

Click here to read

Our projects

We work on a huge range of projects with young people and partner organisations

Click here for more