Welcome to Rug Aid
In 2004, internationally renowned rug maker and teacher, Heather Ritchie, visited Zanzibar in east Africa. Local women and children she lived with were fascinated when she demonstrated the very simple and safe technique of rug making - using recycled local material, clothes, wool and plastic bags - and picked it up quickly.


Providing Opportunities
Upon her return to the UK, Heather Ritchie set up the not-for-profit organisation, Rug Aid. The aim of Rug Aid is to provide opportunities for women and children in some of the poorest communities in Africa. They will make rugs, wall hangings and decorative items which can be sold locally, nationally and, later, through fair trade organisations world wide. By providing opportunities for women and children, the aim of Rug Aid is to bring about change 'from the bottom up'.

International rug-making contacts have offered practical help to get the project going (with donations of tools, materials and training) as well as in the resale/purchase of rugs produced.


Every Rug Will Tell A Story
Rug Aid will draw on the stories of people's lives - their families, animals, friends, transport, homes, schools - as well as the colours, patterns and textures of their environments, both rural and urban, to produce beautiful and very saleable works of art which will bring pleasure to both the creator and the purchaser. The project aims to harness the artistic skills people already have and to encourage people who are not sure that they have any artistic talent to express themselves through colours and patterns.

Latest news - Click here to see Rug Aid's latest newsletter!

See video of the workshop in The Gambia here!