The founder of an ethical fashion and textiles company is helping to train the region's homeless and refugees.
Bukky Baldwin, which is based in Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery, has now been recognised for its efforts after it was chosen as one of five creatives to win at the Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs.
Ibukun Jesusanmi Baldwin runs Bukky Baldwin, which aims to empower marginalised communities.
The business will benefit from a share of £50,000 awarded to the winners to invest in their enterprise, alongside 12 months of business support.
Ms Baldwin, who started the fashion brand in March, collaborates with charities to offer homeless people and refugees workshop programmes to help break “negative cycles of employment or mental health”.
She told the M.E.N: “In my shop space, we have a workshop table and that’s where I do workshops with a refugee group every week.
“It’s a training programme for them, and we get to go through different series of products that are then stocked in the shop and they get to have creative ownership.”
Clothes, interior products, greeting cards, ceramics and accessories are among the items Bukky Baldwin sells.
Most Read
She said: “They have a hand in the design and also find community and friends with the people they’re doing the workshop with.
“I’m already seeing people becoming confident in their design and product decisions. There’s one girl that went to art school in Iran and she is so talented.”
Ms Baldwin also acts as a referee for every person that comes through the training programme.
She said: “I will act as the first point of call for that on-paper experience a lot of them struggle to get when they move on.”
Ms Baldwin said she hopes the investment will take her business to “the next level” and show a way of operating a business that can benefit others.
She said: “This brand was aimed to change the way fashion and textile business is done and I really want this business to do well to show other fashion companies that you don’t have to keep all your profits to yourself.
“You can help people and you can do well in business, so that’s why I really want this business to work, so it can make that point.”
Don’t miss
She added: “I really want this to grow, I want this to reach as many people as I can and the business to do as well as it can and I want the brand to be stocked in different stores.”
Ms Baldwin will also benefit from business support from not-for-profit creative industries incubator MeWe360.
Kevin Osborne, founder and CEO of MeWe360, said: “We are looking forward to working closely with the five winners in the coming year and to support them with mentoring and networking so that their businesses thrive.
“We’re immensely proud to have been invited by Deutsche Bank to partner on this year’s DBACE and are excited by the potential of the partnership to help many future young entrepreneurs on their journeys to success.”
The winners of the award for creative entrepreneurs, which champions creative innovators from diverse backgrounds, were announced at a ceremony hosted by broadcaster Gemma Cairney on Tuesday (July 2).
Nicole Lovett, head of corporate social responsibility at Deutsche Bank, said: “The five winners demonstrated original and exciting creative business ideas with sustainable models that look ahead to ongoing success.
“The prizes awarded mean far more than money, they offer a year of support and mentoring to give our winners every chance of success, shining a light on their ingenuity and the importance of the creative industries to the wider 海角视频 economy.”