Out of the Dark

Meet Jay and Jade Blade. Sound like a couple of superheroes, don't they? And in a way they are. This husband-and-wife team are founders of the charity Out of the Dark, a social enterprise working with young, disadvantaged people to help teach them furniture-making and restoration skills. I met Team Blade at Heal's furniture store - which disappeared off the interiors radar during The Scandi Period and is now looking pretty fabulous again - where Out of the Dark's upcycled midcentury classics are being showcased throughout London Design Festival:

The couple met at university where Jade was studying textiles and Jay criminology and philosophy, she runs the business and creative side, and with experience in the building industry and a carpenter for a father, he runs the workshop. This is such a brilliant concept: upcycling beautiful furniture from the likes of Ercol and G-Plan helps teach the most disadvantaged, disengaged kids valuable skills, improves their confidence and self-esteem and makes the world a better place.


Forget Gotham City, we've got our own superheroes in High Wycombe.