A widow in her 40s is able to earn an income for herself for the first time in her life, thanks to sewing skills training funded by your gifts to Blythswood’s gift catalogue. It is a notable achievement for Trace whose life has been dogged by difficulties and setbacks.

As a teenager brought up by a widowed mother, she was unable to complete high school. They had no income to meet the cost of fees. Eventually when Trace married she lost her only child in childbirth. And then her husband, who worked as a caretaker for a better-off family, took ill and died in hospital.

Her husband’s employer allowed her to remain in the tied accommodation in Hatfield and it was there she encountered some uniformed students on their way home from the sewing skills training programme run by Streams of Hope with support from Blythswood.

“Trace was encouraged to approach the matron of our programme,” says Streams of Hope director Stephen Damuputirai. “The training she received with us has changed her life. Now she has her own heavy-duty sewing machine and earns her living by supplying women’s wear and church uniforms.”

Now Trace can earn an income with her sewing machine.