Working mum Diane Brassington, owner and founder of Westbury Ironing, has now set up Westbury Workshops because she wants to help people to live more independently by teaching them to wash, iron and care for their own clothes. 

 Diane, who has spent more than 25 years in the care and support sector, is also the mother of three teenagers, including a son who is a full-time wheelchair user with multiple learning difficulties. 

 “Having worked or volunteered in the social care sector for so many years and having a son with disabilities means I both understand and appreciate that people with disabilities want to be as independent as possible,” she says. 

 “We also want to equip them with the skills they need to work in the ironing and laundry business. This has always been our vision – to offer work and training opportunities to local people.” 

Each of our short workshops will teach people how to: 

Wash clothes properly without shrinking, fading or running of colours 

Understand the labels on clothes – why they are there and what they mean 

Operate a washing machine and know the difference between each of the programmes 

Dry clothes correctly depending on the fabric 

Understand how an iron works and be able to iron clothes 

Hang and fold clothes 

We will be offering three different courses: 

Four-hour one-off courses for students leaving home and adults who have never learned to iron (max three learners per course) 

A three-week course run one day a week for three hours for adults with learning difficulties or physical disabilities 

1:1 bespoke tuition