A textile collective for Eldorado-Diadema, Brazil

The Eldorado Textile Collective continues to use mainly donated fabric remnants for their products and are exploring new designs for placemats and patchwork quilts that put even small pieces to good use. In June, some of these products were on sale at an evening of live Brazilian music at the London base of ACER’s sister organisation, CARF UK, and at a local fête and craft fair the following day. Helping at these events were Mauro and Ana from Eldorado, who were brought up by their grandmothers as part of ACER’s innovative kinship care programme and now live and work in London. Closer to home, the Collective also sold their textile products at St Paul’s School’s popular International Day on 1st July in São Paulo City.

Higor, who after completing the ‘Eldorado Moda’ course in fashion gained an internship at ACER, now has seven young people attending the sessions he holds on Wednesdays in the textile workspace. The ACER team is also encouraging our young people to apply for Labmoda+, a 6-month course held by Ecotece, a social organisation that operates in the field of sustainable and ethical fashion and is currently offering free places for 50 young people from São Paulo’s metropolitan area with socio-economic vulnerability and/or belonging to minority groups. We are delighted that opportunities for young people initially provided by the ‘Eldorado Moda’ project continue to be available.

Opportunities for training are also available to the collective’s older members, who continue to take short garment-making courses in our textile workshop run by the Florestan Fernandes Foundation, a local philanthropic organisation that offers free vocational training.

Thank you for helping us support and develop the Eldorado community.