BARBARA CHANDLER

Homes & Gardens’ design correspondent on how social design can renew optimism and improve self-esteem

Social design, which is aimed primarily at improving lives rather than making money, is gaining traction across the UK. One inspirational project is Fixperts, fixperts.org. Set up in 2012 and run without profit, it matches individuals who need specific assistance in some way, such as the disabled or elderly, with designers who can provide a solution. For example, a designer created a device to help an MS sufferer put in her earrings. A short film records the process and is then posted on the Fixperts website for the benefit of others. You can now view around 200 projects from all over the world.

A well-established enterprise is Fine Cell Work, finecellwork.co.uk. Experienced volunteers teach prisoners, most of whom are men, sewing skills to help restore their self-esteem. The charity is involved with 31 prisons across the UK and more than 6,000 prisoners, who earn money by embroidering quilts, cushions, wall hangings and bags while in their cells. Collaborating with the project (among others) is interior designer Kit Kemp, who has recently created upholstered furniture and accessories (shown above).

Other initiatives bring remunerative work to poorer parts of the world. Secret Pillow Project, secretpillow.org.uk, provides employment to Indian women living in poverty by teaching them to make ingenious, colourful pillows that unfold into blankets. Big companies can be involved, too. The Hemtrakt range of baskets and bags by Ikea, ikea.com/gb, is hand-embroidered by a women’s social enterprise in India.