About
Kundakala run three programmes:
- A free entry-level 6-month Make and Mend programme where women are taught how to use the sewing machine.
- An advanced free Alterations and Upcycle programme, where they are taught to upcycle fabric to make products, and to repair and mend clothes to a very high standard
- The Kundakala Collective – a collection of micro businesses started by graduates from our programmes offering repairs services and selling upcycled products.
The common thread across everything we do is the reduction of textile waste by repurposing fabric, garments, sarees to make new products. All participants are encouraged to bring items they no longer use to our sessions so that they can give them a new life.
Additionally, members of the Kundakala Collective offer an Alterations and Repairs service to clients promoting the message that clothes should be repaired and reused rather than discarded.
We also run hands-on repairs workshops enabling participants to bring clothes from home and learn how to repair them.
For more than 20 years, Poornima has been a dedicated force in the UK’s social enterprise sector, working with a range of organisations where there has been a strong mission and commitment to empowering women from diverse backgrounds to access meaningful employment. Her work has consistently centered on designing impactful programmes that not only support women into work, but also rigorously measure the outcomes through thoughtful impact frameworks and metrics, ensuring alignment with social missions.
Kundakala reflects both a personal tribute and a powerful vehicle for change, offering women from ethnic minority backgrounds across London the opportunity to train as professional seamstresses. Through this initiative, Poornima transforms sewing into a pathway to financial independence and social upliftment, continuing her lifelong mission of creating equitable opportunities for women through purposeful, creative work.