Nellie Thornton MBE
Founder member of Fashion Service and the
Wharfe Valley Community Project, Nellie Thornton
studied for a Diploma in Community Studies at
Bradford and Ilkley Community College. She was
awarded an MBE for her tireless work in 2007.
Educated at Keighley Girls Grammar School, Nellie worked
as a textile designer from the age of 15 to 23, training for 6
years at night school at Keighley College.
She married in 1955 and brought up two sons in Ilkley.
When her husband lost his job in a company take-over
she took in sewing, studied for a City and Guilds at Craven
College, and began teaching in Further Education at Craven
College and Ilkley College. Nellie then began outreach work
in Nursing Homes.
Twelve years later, she studied for a Diploma in Community
Studies at Bradford & Ilkley Community College and took
a work placement at Airedale Hospital alongside a medical
social worker working with stroke cases. Nellie noticed they
all seemed to have clothes too big for them, which did
nothing for their image and self-esteem. Realising that an
arm out of action made it impossible to get into certain
styles, she designed and made a dress for a lady which fit,
met all her needs and made her independent. “She was a
changed woman” says Nellie, “If clothing had this effect,
why wasn’t somebody doing something? Nobody was.
You unpicked seams, attached velcro and stuck it all back
up again. I knew about fabrics and pattern cutting but
precious little about disability.”
Her next placement was at Whetley Hill Centre for the
Disabled. Here she realised that many could make their own
clothes with a little help, or by working together. Reporting
back to College she identified the need for a workshop to
make clothing and a training centre for those who could
help themselves.
In 1981, the Year of the Disabled, lecturer Rod Sawyer
successfully applied for funding for her scheme. Twelve
hours research time gave Nellie the opportunity to meet
field workers, school staff and parents. She also sat on
the clothing panel at Disabled Living Foundation in
London. ‘Fashion Service’ was set up in Salts Mill, holding
International Fashion Weeks and classes for disabled
people, parents and teachers. The Workshop was always
busy, and members worked 13 weeks a year in schools and
centres around the country, and gave talks at seminars in
Cambridge, Dublin, Athens and Rome. They soon realised
why firms were not making these clothes. As each person’s
needs were different and consequently their garments were
one-offs, they were expensive. Clients couldn’t afford the
cost, so each garment was subsidised.
The original funding finished after 3 years. Visits from
Princess Diana and Selina Scott and a slot on Calendar
Fashion all helped to bring in more funds. Since then they
have depended on Charitable Trusts and are still working
under a new name ‘Clothing Solutions’ chaired by their very
first customer.
In 2007, Nellie was awarded the MBE for services to her
Ilkley community. She is a Founder Member and Voluntary
Secretary of the Wharfe Valley Community Project, which
was set up in 1995 by a group from the Ilkley Soroptimists
with help from Age Concern. This project helps elderly,
isolated members of the community, providing activities
in cookery, sewing, art and crafts, keep fit and life history
at their Ilkley base at Abbeyfield Grove House. They also
provide the service in the homes of the less mobile as far as
Addingham and Menston.
Nellie has also been a volunteer at Ilkley’s Clarke Foley
Centre and for Ilkley Talking Newspaper.
Photograph Bradford College