MAKING IT IN TEXTILES Immediate Past Master, Dr Carolyn Boulter, DL
M
aking It in Textiles is a conference for final year textile design degree students, which introduces them and their tutors to the UK textiles industry, encouraging them to consider a variety of career options explained by industry experts. Attendees receive the chance to visit two textile manufacturing establishments in the Bradford area and to talk about their future career plans. The conference – in its fifth year – is funded and organised through a collaboration of The Clothworkers’, Weavers’ and Drapers’ Companies, as well as the Campaign for Wool. It is now attracting interest from other companies like The Dyers’, Framework Knitters’ and Broderers’ Companies. Thanks to our combined efforts, we encouraged 50 guests from across the textiles industry to attend the event and network with students. We
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THE CLOTHWORKER | SPRING 2019
welcomed 118 students (including their tutors) from 23 educational institutions across the UK. For some, it was their first experience of attending a conference, and they arrived quite anxious. But the organisers seated students at set places at tables to enhance discussion and soon the students were chatting and starting to network with those from other institutions and the experts from the textiles industry. This was extremely effective, with many commenting on the useful new contacts they had made. It was obvious that representatives from the industry were enthusiastic about meeting young people and encouraging them to enter the field. One student commented, ‘This is bringing us and the mills together, we can bring creativity into a conservative environment’. They learned that there is no formula for success, but there is a need for
