Tailoring courses in Ullapool have been so successful that at least two unemployed people are seriously looking at self-employment.  The tailoring training programme which took place in the Macphail Centre was introduced by Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) to give participants new skills and to develop existing ones.  The courses were run and certified by Cardonald College, Glasgow.

RACE supplied six sewing machines, an overlocker and other equipment to set up in the Macphail Centre and commissioned Cardonald College lecturer Nancy Livingstone to deliver the two, intensive 10-day courses.

After completing the course the participants were allowed to borrow the sewing machines for a few weeks to practice all they had learned at home.  They were also given the opportunity to attend a pattern-cutting course to develop their skills even further.

RACE assisted this project with £19,000, much of which is a medium to long term investment, as the equipment will be used in the future to provide similar courses throughout Ross and Cromarty.

Paul Reilly, a development manager for RACE said: "We wanted to address the issue of a lack of training courses in more remote areas.  By offering these types of training courses in situ in different areas we hope to increase skills at a local level.

"A tourism survey carried out in the Highlands and Islands in 2002/03 highlighted visitors' wishes to buy more locally produced goods and we hope this course will allow some participants to secure paid work to produce items to meet this demand."

Ruth Stockl, who attended the course, has since signed up for a full time course at Edinburgh Art School.  She said: "I've always been really interested in fashion so jumped at the chance to take part in this course.  I had used a home machine for years but learning to use an industrial machine and the correct way of sewing garments was extremely useful. 

"My sewing has improved a million times in neatness and this course has really helped me on my way to becoming a world famous fashion designer!"

Margaret Durdle took part in the course and hopes to use her new skills to provide employment in the future.  She said: "I found it really interesting, it helped to build my confidence and greatly improved my sewing skills.  If anything I would have liked the course to be longer!"

Cardonald College's lecturer Nancy Livingstone said: "I really enjoyed working with everyone on these courses, they were all very eager to learn and it is very satisfying to see the improvement in their work over the time I spent with them.  I think this is an excellent opportunity RACE is providing for people to increase and improve their skills."