About the designer

Our production process

Each of our products goes on a long and impactful journey before it is ready to be sold. And every one of our items touches the life of at least one prisoner or prison leaver in some way.

Our needlework kits are put together in our prison workshops before being distributed from our London hub to our wonderful volunteers. These inspirational supporters teach people in prison the necessary skills to craft each piece. The completed stitchwork is then returned to us, to ensure it meets our exacting standards, before finally being sent back into a prison to be 'made up', turning it into the final product (e.g. stuffing and adding zips to cushions).

In total, this process can take up to 200 hours and over 70,000 stitches (per piece!)

We know that every single one of our products boosts self-esteem, builds confidence, has a positive impact on a stitcher’s mental health, and gives them the opportunity to transform their lives.

By purchasing a product, you become a part of that journey.

DONATIONS

Support our work

By purchasing from Fine Cell Work, you are making social change. However, 75% of our rehabilitation programmes are funded through donations and grants. We know that transformation is possible - for our stitchers, for our communities, and for our society as a whole. Your support - through donations or by purchasing products - will help to break the devastating cycle of reoffending and repeated imprisonment.

£10 donation
Provides a prisoner with the materials for one tapestry cushion (100 hours of creative activity). 

£20 donation
Will enable us to continue providing paid, creative and productive work to even more prisoners around the UK, helping them to build a brighter future.

£50 donation
Sponsors a prisoner to train as a volunteer 'class coordinator', teaching and mentoring other prisoners.

£250 donation
Covers the volunteer costs of a stitching class in prison.

£500 donation
Pays for the training, materials and support for one prisoner for an entire year, helping them to rebuild a meaningful, independent,crime-free life.

By giving prisoners hope that transformation is truly possible, they can envision a meaningful life after release. But nobody tells the story of how Fine Cell Work has helped them better than the prisoners themselves:

“Stitching allows me to use a totally different part of my brain and personality. I can move away from the more difficult reflections and anxieties and feel creative and purposeful. This means I no longer feel that my life has come to a halt and that I am of no use to anyone else.”

- Tom, FCW Stitcher -

Customer Reviews

Based on 7 reviews
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Helen McB
William Morris cushion

A beautiful piece - timeless and elegant and, as with all Fine Cell Work pieces, beautifully crafted. It looks great.

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Amanda Milne

Loved it so much I purchased another one!

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Alison
Beautiful cushions

These were bought as gifts, one for someone who has worked at the William Morris Society and who is now in Textile Conservation. She thought they were absolutely beautiful and she knows what she is talking about! The other for her husband - he agreed!

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Alison Frater
Comfort and beauty

The cushions from FCW are such a joy- great craftsmanship complex stitching and beautiful. Really grateful to the project and hope it brings the love and utility we find in the product.

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ANTHEA CANNELL
Delight all round!

I was very pleased when the cushion arrived. I thought the colours were beautiful and it was immaculately stitched and finished. I wrote a short letter of thanks and enclosed it in a Christmas card which I sent to the person who made the cushion (at the address given on the label).
I gave it to a friend as a Christmas gift, and she is delighted with it. She also said that she would write to the stitcher to express her pleasure.