Kilt firm joins Blueheart bid to end slavery

A GLASGOW kilt company has joined the fight against human trafficking.

MacGregor and MacDuff, in Bath Street, is selling a range of products featuring the UN-endorsed Blueheart tartan.

It is part of the firm’s partnership with social enterprise Liberation Kilt Company, and has been announced to coincide with UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on Sunday.

Twent y per cent of profits from the sale of Blueheart tartan fabric, which is woven in Scotland by Bute Fabrics, goes to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, which supports charities around the world fighting modern-day slavery.

Professor Giles Jackson, co-founder of Liberation Kilt Company which designs textiles promoting worthy social causes, said: “By literally weaving these issues into the fabric of everyday life, we hope to raise awareness and inspire like-minded people to connect, create and act in new and meaningful ways.”

He added: “The new product range offers consumers a striking way to show their solidarity with the victims of human trafficking, while providing direct financial support to the NGOs working to put a stop to this international crime that robs people of their lives and their dignity.”

Despite growing awareness, human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing organised crime; coalition Stop the Traffik estimates that between 600,000 and 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year.

The UK is one of the most prominent destination countries for people to be trafficked into Europe.

According to Jim Laird, Scotland’s leading human trafficking expert, Glasgow is a hotspot for trafficking.

Mr Laird, who is the refugee integration coordinator and human trafficking lead at Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership, told a recent BBC documentary that there had been 150 people recorded as official victims of trafficking in Scotland last year.

He believes the real figure could run in to thousands as many victims are reluctant to report the crime.

Jason Landon, business development manager for MacGregor and MacDuff, said: “We hope our range of Blueheart tartan ties, handfasting ribbons and ring-bearer cushions will inspire our customers to be more socially aware and contribute to the halting of modern slavery.”

MacGregor and MacDuff has been trading on Bath Street since 1979.

Since launching its first registered tartan called the Silver Mist in 2009, it has since expanded throughout Europe, the US and Asia.