Stich-up: Take the skill of crafting to prisons

Calling our UAL community to share creative skills with prisoners

Stitch Up is a volunteer group currently seeking design postgraduates — particularly from textiles, fashion, or industrial design — who are interested in testing creative ideas and teaching basic sewing and making skills to prisoners. The aim is to support participants in creating simple, handmade objects — such as cushions, bags, and hats — while exploring imaginative ways to co-design with them. No prior teaching experience is necessary.

To apply, you must be:

• Able to commit one day a week for 3 to 6 months, volunteering at HMP Pentonville and working with prisoners in small, supported groups
• Skilled in sewing and machine work, with an interest in teaching others how to make
• Confident or curious about facilitating design processes in collaborative settings
• Interested in sorting, selecting, and creatively reusing fabrics already donated to the prison’s storeroom
• Comfortable working independently as well as collaboratively within a team of volunteers

Volunteers must also be willing to take part in a 2-hour safeguarding session with Lorraine Gamman before entering the prison and complete the mandatory vetting process required by HM Prisons.

Please note that regular volunteering inside the prison can only begin once vetting is completed. However, accompanied trial visits are possible beforehand — giving you a chance to explore ideas and experience the setting before fully committing.

If you're interested in getting involved, please email Professor Lorraine Gamman at l.gamman@csm.arts.ac.uk. The shortlisted applicants will be then for an informal meeting and expected to start in late June or early July.

About Stitch Up

Stitch Up is a creative volunteering group working inside prison that was co-founded by Professor Lorraine Gamman from the Design Against Crime Research Lab at Central Saint Martins, in collaboration with Michelle Cunningham, who manages Prison Industries at HMP Pentonville — just a short walk from CSM’s Caledonian Road campus.

Stitch Up began by inviting postgraduate students from across UAL to volunteer their creative skills inside Pentonville. The belief that creative activity can support rehabilitation — and help individuals reimagine their identities — is well documented, with many independent evaluations collected by the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA). Drawing on this evidence, Gamman argues:

“Every prison should be a creative hub — what we need is an army of creatives working inside.”

Since the launch, CSM PhD students Hongyi Zhu and Sue Newby-House, along with Alice Strauss from BA Product and Industrial Design, have been visiting Pentonville weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Their sessions are coordinated by Steve St Clair and Tess Crichton Miller, who have played a key role in getting the Stitch Up pilot off the ground and bring deep experience in both textiles and volunteering. Together, the team has supported prisoners in developing sewing and making skills using gamified techniques — turning skill-building into a fun, engaging process.

Beyond the technical learning, UAL volunteers have also responded to broader questions from participants around rehabilitation: from managing anger and accessing funding after release, to building stronger personal and social support networks.

During the sewing sessions, participants are guided through the entire creative process — from sketching ideas and selecting fabrics to using sewing machines and finishing products. The aim is not just to teach technical skills but to foster confidence and creative self-expression.