It takes a lot of training to be a good kiltmaker. The ones I know have been doing it for years and learned to make kilts by 'growing up with it' in the family or by attending a first-rate training facility like the Keith Kilt School in Scotland. It also takes intelligence, a good eye for aesthetics, and a love for the art itself. I'm not saying that people recovering from serious problems could not possess these traits, but I do think their track records may not auger well for their being able to apply them with the necessary devotion.

For a good, traditional kilt, the materials alone, even at wholesale prices, account for most of the price. Kiltmakers don't make a lot on their labour.

However, the biggest problem I see in the idea is that you would have to spend a lot of time and effort training people to do something that would not make them employable anywhere but in your factory, and I don't think any agency offering grants would go for that. People trying to recover their lives need skills that give them broad opportunities.

If you want to support poor, honest people trying to make a living by kiltmaking, buy Pakistani or Indian kilts!