COLLINGWOOD-Norris, a small visible mending and knitwear business in Galashiels, has made it to the top 20 businesses in the “Business for Good” category of the Holly & Co Independent awards.

Designer Flora Collingwood-Norris teaches visible mending worldwide through her book, online workshops and video tutorials, and is absolutely thrilled to be nominated.

She said: “Textile waste is a huge problem for the environment, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes disposed of annually in the UK alone.

“Learning to care for and repair your clothing plays a big part in reducing that and changing attitudes towards buying new.

Border Telegraph: Collingwood-Norris

“If you can have fun with the repairs at the same time, it makes the task much more interesting.”

The ‘Business for Good’ category of the Independent Awards is to “celebrate those truly purpose-led companies with positivity at their core.

It’s for those who act in a positive way for our people, communities or planet, and encourage others to do the same.

There are two lucky winners for this award: the first will receive £10,000 and the second will receive £5,000.”

If she wins, Flora wants to use the prize money to run a series of workshops in Galashiels that would be free to attend, with the aim of teaching these valuable skills to more people, and creating more resilience within the community.

Border Telegraph: Collingwood-Norris

She added: “Craft activities, including mending have been shown to improve mental health, reducing anxiety and stress, and improving a sense of wellbeing and satisfaction. Mending our clothes can have multiple benefits for us.”

To win, Flora needs the public vote:

Voting ends on the 24th November at 5pm for the categories, and  December 5 for the ‘People’s Choice’ Award, with winners for all categories announced on the 8th December.