Previously, we have written about how our Marketing Department stepped up to the challenge of the global pandemic (if you missed it, you can read it here).  In this news story, Day Class Manager, Noleen Wyatt-Jones, explains how the RSN Education Team quickly embraced changed, to continue teaching hand embroidery during this difficult time.

“One year on from when we closed the door in March 2021, not knowing what was around the corner and when we would be back, we are now in a position to look back on an extraordinary 12 months and what we have achieved in that time with so much pride.

The RSN family has always been a small but dedicated team of people with a shared love of hand embroidery, focused on our part in protecting it for the future. A year on, we emerged a smaller but stronger team and the shared experience has forged an unbreakable bond.

I will never forget that first day sitting at the kitchen table and taking part in our first virtual team meeting as we struggled to come to terms with the unprecedented global crisis whilst trying to find a way to navigate our way through.  Those first days passed in a whirlwind of cancelling all of our onsite classes, fielding a multitude of enquiries and trying to work out how we could continue to operate in such a disjointed way with the ‘active’ team spread across different locations. Technology was a challenge but we quickly mastered how best to use unfamiliar systems in order to communicate.

After 22 weeks of working from home, Anne Butcher (Head of Education & Studio) and I took our first tentative steps towards coming back to Hampton Court Palace and we spent many days in a deserted Palace, planning and finessing the online/onsite teaching plans. The Online Certificate & Diploma tuition began in April with a very swift and enthusiastic take up from our student base. This gave us the confidence to move on to Online Day Classes.

Never ones to shy away from a challenge, we sped headlong into planning mode and remembered a Rainbow Class design previously submitted by RSN Tutor Sarah de Rousset-Hall.  This was perfect as our first Online Day Class, given that the rainbow had become an iconic beacon of hope worldwide.  We have not looked back since that first class and it has been a steep learning curve for everyone as we have learnt together how to teach online, faced the challenges of getting kits out across the world and being on hand to support our Tutors and customers in this rapidly evolving world.

We are also delighted to announce that we have just launched a new ‘Silver Linings Bright Rainbow’ design Day Class.  Featuring the popular Rainbow design from our very first online class but with the added sparkle of Silver Chipping and the opportunity to personalise with text.

We are currently working on our Day & Evening Class programme for August onwards and can’t wait to share this with you.  Watch this space!”

The new Silver Linings Bright Rainbow class takes place on Saturday 29 May at 10am – 4pm.  Book Now.

View all RSN Online Day & Evening Classes