Back To Basics In Recession ...

How our young will get through the recession...


BASICS: Sewing and baking is key...

THE younger generation is being urged to get back to basics and learn the long forgotten skills of sewing, baking and fending for themselves in a series of classes to be held in Dublin city.

Celebrity chef Darina Allen recently said that elderly people have the know-how to cope with limited budgets, but those in younger age groups may find it difficult to survive in the recession.

Helpless

"People have been so focused on careers and academia that they are helpless when they lose their jobs," she said. "They don't have money and they realise they don't have skills that would help them through.

"From a small budget, grandmothers were able to feed the family," she added. "They could look in the fridge and make a meal out of all sorts of little scraps. That is a skill that's lost - being able to judge it yourself when food is safe to eat and when it is not. It's a forgotten skill to be able to make a meal, something delicious and lovely out of leftovers."

Darina has appealed to grandparents to pass on cooking skills to their grandchildren and vice versa.

And now Fashion Evolution, supported by Dublin City Enterprise Board, are holding a series of workshops designed to assist people make the most of their limited wardrobes.

The services available at Crafternoon Tea at Smock Alley Café in Temple Bar on May 2 range from basic knitting classes to pattern drafting for designing your own clothes.

There will also be a 'Clothes Clinic', where people will be taught to how to mend clothes as well as ''Upcycling', which involves taking an old garment and transforming it into something new from as little as €10 a class.

The event is part of Ethical Fashion Week 2009, with a whole host of seminars, lessons and to teach people how to get back to basics and appreciate the rudimentary aspects of fashion.

"The recession is bringing out the creative best in people. There is more of a community spirit and people want to take positive actions to find solutions and find similar positive like minded people," said Eibhlin Curley, Assistant Chief Executive, Dublin City Enterprise Board.

Focus

And Ms Curley said that there is more of a focus on small networking associations for people to exchange ideas and collaborate on projects.

"There is definitely a backlash into positive mode," she said. "People want to get involved and not become a victim but to be constructive and control their own destiny."



Report by Claire Murphy - Evening Herald.