All Our Stories: a collaboration

Saturday 12th of June at 12pm sustainable fashion designer, humanitarian and artist, Bethany Williams, launched her latest collection, All Our Stories. 

“She still wears stories passed down to her by her mother. Words that no longer fit the same way because life has stretched and changed its shape, but the moral of the story remains. Like the smile on her face. Her joy is new, even though the ending is not. She has not forgotten the promise she made, never to waste these old, tattered tales but to tell them to her children – again and again. To get to the end and watch them smile. They are their stories now. They are All Our Stories.” – Eno Mfon, Spoken Word Poet

All Our Stories is inspired by Bethany’s continued work with East London grassroots organisation, The Magpie Project, a charity that supports women and children under five who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Magpie project works to make sure that a spell in insecure or temporary accommodation does not result in permanent damage to the life chances of the children who experience it. 

Artist Melissa Kitty Jarram – inspired by the folklore passed from generation to generation and childhood stories that continue to inform us in our adult lives – ran a storytelling workshops with the Magpie families and illustrated the magical narratives they shared. She then used waste book covers in her illustrations to tell a new story.

The collection focuses on five main storylines shared by the families of the Magpie Project, “AOS”, “Blessing”, “Dinosaurs” and “The Girl Who Cried Tiger”, as well as Bethany’s own, “The Sun and The Wind” childhood story.

 “What we noticed through the story-telling workshops, was that the moral in each story always came back to kindness, care, and respect for one another and how these traits, whilst important in childhood, have just as much meaning in adult life.” Bethany Williams

Working closely with Jane Williams, the founder of the Magpie Project, Bethany Williams will continue the theme of the collection in a commitment to running creative workshops with the Magpie Project community that will capture, share and amplify their myriad stories. It is the collective’s belief that disseminating these stories empowers and encourages community togetherness and voice at many levels.

The silhouettes of the collection are inspired by the V&A Museum of Childhood garment archive. This collection sees Bethany’s first detailed exploration into tailoring with a suit inspired by a historical children’s skeleton suit from the 1800’s. The skeleton suit was the first children’s garment designed for play. The new shapes stand alongside our existing forms representing our continued development. The collection also features two corsets created with Welsh designer Rosie Evans using offcuts from the collection production. In these corsets, Rosie has replaced traditional boning with a material made out of fruit packaging waste.

At a time when the V&A Museum of Childhood has fully decanted for refurbishment, All Our Stories has filled the empty space with new stories and community faces for our campaign imagery. 

As with all her work, the collection is created via Bethany’s social manufacturing partners who are built into the framework of social enterprise. Bethany continues to work with community driven, UK based social manufacturing partner, Making for Change Poplar Works. For the first time, Williams is using donations of Merino Wool deadstock from Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna, which has been printed with eco-friendly inks via Orto Print in Peckham. 

Through the collaboration with Mending For Good, knitwear has been a key area of development for this collection where Williams proudly introduces a new social manufacturing partnership called Manusa. Manusa is, a social cooperative that involves people from various backgrounds, specializing in hand-techniques including delicate crochet, embroidery and hand-knitting. Designed in collaboration with Alice Morell Evans, the knitwear uses Sesia Wool industry waste sample swatches, crocheted together with Seisia organic bio wool. Each year, the sample swatches created each season become surplus at the end of each cycle of production. To utilise this waste, Bethany and Founder of Mending For Good, Barbara Guarducci, developed a sorting technique with Sesia for their team to separate the swatches.

Barbara Guarducci said “Mending for Good was born to provide design-driven technical solutions for the excess stock and left-overs of the fashion industry. Everyday tons of so far “considered” waste are still produced, that is why we love to collaborate with visionary designers such as Bethany Williams that sees waste as the raw material from which a beautiful story can start.” 

The book cover waste, provided by Hachette, is used for Bethany’s iconic Book Bags, and integrated into the collection garments through their woven textile collaboration with San Patrignano, an education and rehabilitation programme that teaches traditional Italian craft and a sense of community. 

Six looks from All Our Stories make up Bethany Williams’ submission for the 2021 International Woolmark Prize finals. 

20% of the profits from this collection will be donated to The Magpie Project via The Bethany Williams Benevolent Fund, a fund set up by The Magpie Project and Bethany Williams in 2020.

Read what British Vogue has to say about the latest Bethany Williams Collection here

Bank Examples	Forms of Identity Needed
Metro Bank	Asylum seekers can apply for a cash account and/or savings account. This requires an Application Registration Card (ARC), proof of address and confirmation of asylum seekers support allowance or other income.
Lloyds	You can apply for a Classic Current account with a BRP, ARC or a Home Office Immigration Status document. Refugees and asylum seekers can apply for a ‘Classic current account’. This includes an arranged overdraft. Fees are charged if you go into your overdraft.
Nationwide	You can get a ‘FlexBasic account’ (basic bank account) and an ‘Instant Access saver’ (basic savings account). They accept BRP, ARC and Home Office Immigration Status document.
HSBC	You cannot open a bank account if you are from outside the EU. They accept BRP but NOT ARC. They accept BRP but NOT ARC.
Monzo	Refugees can open a current account with a BRP and their UK address. However, Monzo do not accept ARC. You can get your benefits or salary (depending on your employer) paid into your Monzo account 1 day earlier.

Saves Time	Make sure there is enough money in your account when the direct debit or standing order will be taken. If there is not enough money, you could be charged extra by the bank.
You don’t need to remember to pay a bill	You must remember to cancel standing orders when you want to stop paying someone regularly.
You will get money back for any incorrect payments for direct debits only.	Sometimes you might think you are setting up a direct debit, but it is actually a recurring payment or continuous payment authority (CPA). Be careful if companies ask for the long number on your card instead of your sort code and account number. This will mean they can take money whenever they think they are owed.
You can cancel a direct debit or a standing order at any time through your online banking account or by contacting your bank.


Magpie Mums say: “Always use direct debits if you can, so you don’t forget to pay and are charged. If you can’t use direct debits, make sure you put the dates when you’re supposed to make payments in your phone calendar.” “I’m used to it. It’s easy on the phone. I try to avoid going to banks.”

Account number	A 10-12 digit number given to your bank account. You can find your account number on your online banking page or on bank statements.
Card Number	A 16-digit number with that is found on the front of your debit/credit card.
Credit Card	A credit card doesn’t spend your money. It spends the bank’s money and you must pay it back. This means you can spend more than is in your account, but you might be charged extra for doing this, especially if you are late paying the bank.
Credit Score	A number that records how likely you are to repay your debts. High credit scores are better as it means financial products such as overdrafts and credit cards cost less.
Debit Card	A debit card is a card that lets you take out money from ATMs and make payments in stores or online from your account.
Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS)	An organisation set up to protect the money you put in bank accounts. If you have a current or basic account, the FSCS will pay you up to £85,000 if your bank goes bankrupt.
National Insurance Number (NI)	The number makes sure that the National Insurance contributions and tax you pay are properly recorded on your account. It also acts as a reference number for the whole social security system.
Overdraft	An amount of money you can spend even when you have no money in your account. It is like a small loan from your bank. Overdrafts are often not free, so you need to be very aware what the costs are before using one.
Personal Identification Number (PIN)	A PIN is a 4-digit number that is given to you with a debit card. This is used when taking out money from ATMs or when making in-store purchases with your card. Never share your PIN with anyone as it could be used to commit fraud.
Security Code	A 3-4 digit number found on the back of your debit/credit card in the signature section. This number will be required for nearly all online payments. The code provides an extra layer of security to safeguard you from fraud.
Sort Code	A 6-digit number that is used to identify your bank. You can find your sort code on your online banking platform, on bank statements or on your debit card.
Standing Order	When a fixed amount that you choose is paid from your account to another person or organisation. This is different from the direct debit as the amount that is paid is the same each time.

Saves time – you don’t need to remember to pay a bill.	You need to make sure there is enough money in your account when the direct debit or standing order will be taken. If there is not enough money, you could be charged extra by the bank.
You will get money back for any incorrect payments for direct debits only.	You must remember to cancel standing orders when you want to stop paying someone regularly.
You can cancel a direct debit or a standing order at any time through your online banking account or by contacting your bank.	Sometimes you might think you are setting up a direct debit, but it is actually a recurring payment or continuous payment authority (CPA). Be careful if companies ask for the long number on your card instead of your sort code and account number. This will mean they can take money whenever they think they are owed.

All Our Stories: a collaboration

Saturday 12th of June at 12pm sustainable fashion designer, humanitarian and artist, Bethany Williams, launched her latest collection, All Our Stories.

Discover more from The Magpie Project

Saturday 12th of June at 12pm sustainable fashion designer, humanitarian and artist, Bethany Williams, launched her latest collection, All Our Stories. 