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882 Educators providing Courses

Gill Arnold Dressmaking Training

gill arnold dressmaking training

West Midlands

I live and work in Solihull and am married with two boys. I have an obsessive love of sewing, which has driven my career through a wide range of sewing related experiences. I came from a family of sewers and from a very early age was encouraged to be creative. My love of embroidery and needlework led me to pursue a career in teaching. I attended a specialist needlework and home economics teacher training College in Liverpool. I always enjoyed "hands on work" and gained experience working with an expert team of fitting and alteration seamstresses at an exclusive dress shop the summer I finished at Liverpool. I wanted a creative career, so I applied for the position of wardrobe assistant at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. This was a wonderful work experience, sewing fabulous fabrics and making a diverse range of costumes. The theatre wardrobe mistress encouraged me to continue studying and I enrolled for a City and Guilds course. Although theatre working hours were long, they were flexible and I could study and work full time. I achieved merit for City and Guilds Creative Studies; two years later I received a distinction in Fashion and Design and won the year prize. My qualifications and experience opened another career opportunity in the fashion industry. I wanted to work fewer hours and the job I was offered provided training in production planning and buying. Working regular hours I decided to think again about the teaching career I had abandoned. I was employed by Birmingham Adult Education Department to work in evenings teaching Embroidery and Needlework. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching, so when I married and the family arrived I gave up full time work in industry. I returned to college, updated my teaching qualifications and became a part time teacher In the early 90's I wrote the Tailoring Programme for the West Midlands Access Foundation, later used by Open College Network. By 1996 I was determined to offer my own courses, now known as Gill Arnold Dressmaking Training. In 1997 I became Sewing World magazine's pattern specialist. Over 20 years teaching has given me a wealth of experience and knowledge to produce articles on patterns and fitting. I have also written for Sew Today and American publications. With the support of the sewing industry I enjoy being a regular exhibitor at shows all over the country including the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. My yearly programme provides a full range of sewing events, exhibitions, seminars, cloth sales, trips and courses.

Jikiden Reiki UK

jikiden reiki uk

West Midlands

Reiki Ryoho (therapy) is the art of hands on healing originating in Japan in 1922, established by Mikao Usui (臼井甕男1865-1926). Reiki itself can be described as the universal energy of existence, which flows through all life and matter. It is completely natural and non-invasive, and when a Reiki therapy is received from a trained practitioner, it can assist in the healing of both body and mind. Treatments are carried out by the practitioner placing their hands directly on the recipient, who remains fully dressed throughout the session, normally laying on a treatment couch. By doing this hands on, the practitioner effectively acts as a conduit for Reiki energy to pass through him or her in greater abundance, assisting and boosting the natural healing ability of the recipient’s body. Reiki works not only on physical issues but can also improve mental health and outlook, and over the past few decades has become increasingly popular throughout the world especially in Europe and the USA, becoming recognized as an effective and important holistic health treatment. Trials and studies are now being held in hospitals and front-line medical staff. In Japan however, despite being the home of Reiki, the situation has been strikingly different. Although Reiki in Japan has, in recent years, been slowly growing in popularity, the majority of Japanese people still do not know or accept this wonderful non-religious healing practice. Before WWII Reiki had become very popular in Japan and was widely practiced, but from 1945, partly because of connections to the Japanese Navy and also because of medical laws instituted by the occupying forces, the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (the organisation established by Usui sensei) was obliged to stop openly practicing Reiki in order to avoid being shut down. Despite this however some individuals quietly continued to use Reiki from their homes, for friends and family. With the dramatic change of ideology in post-war Japan, people gradually lost interest and belief in traditional Eastern healing arts and it is only over the last thirty years, following its journey from pre-war Japan, first to Hawaii and then throughout the West, that Reiki has been reintroduced to Japan and is now once again being openly practiced. This Reiki practice however was a Western version of Reiki with varying degrees of change and influence in the way it is practiced, and many of the teachings are therefore either missing important, essential elements from the original system or have been changed completely. It was thought that Reiki had died out in Japan and from the time Western Reiki first reappeared all those years ago, many students had been trying to find the original teachings free from Western influence, and this lead to the door of Chiyoko Yamaguchi…