During the Covid-19 pandemic, our Craft Collective have been busy making facemasks!
The Craft Collective is a group of refugees and local volunteers who are working together to help make a difference in the local community. Unable to meet up in person as they normally would do each Saturday afternoon, they have been working from home to create cotton facemasks that can be bought by the public but also given away to those in need.
For each mask that is sold, the project gives one away for free to asylum seekers, refugees, members of the homeless community and others - so far over 100 masks have been given out through partner organisations The Haven (a first stop health clinic for newly arrived asylum seekers in Bristol) and Logos House (the Salvation Army homeless shelter).
As well as the masks being produced and given away, the project has highlighted the skills that refugees bring with them when they arrive in the country and their desire to contribute towards their new society. One volunteer from Syria, who used to work as a professional tailor and upholsterer before fleeing the war there, has made dozens of masks and given hours of his time towards the project.
We would like to say a massive thank you to BrisDoc Community Fund for kindly sponsoring the startup costs and pilot phase of this project, and to everyone who has bought a mask so far!
To buy a Craft Collective face mask, go to https://bridgesforcommunities.com/products/face-mask
If you are local to Bristol and would like to become a Craft Collective volunteer, please email angie.mack@
If you have an other enquiry about the masks, please email shop@