Forge and Equip Celebrates Recognition in Three Award Categories

We’re incredibly proud to share some exciting news from Forge and Equip.

This year, our small social enterprise has been recognised across three award categories, celebrating innovation, community impact and the family effort behind our work.

Forge and Equip has been shortlisted for Social Enterprise Innovation of the Year 2026 at the Social Enterprise Scotland Awards. We’re looking forward to being part of this event and being inspired by a vast range of organisations.

We’re also delighted to have been named finalists in two categories at the Midlothian and East Lothian Business Awards 2026:

• Best Community Impact

• Family Business of the Year

For an organisation that has only recently celebrated its second anniversary, this recognition means a huge amount to us.

Recognising a Different Way of Doing Business

Forge & Equip was created around a simple idea: that practical skills can create opportunities.

Through welding, fabrication and hands-on learning, we aim to support people to build skills, confidence and pathways towards employment, training or new opportunities. At the same time, our commercial fabrication work helps us create income and sustainability for the organisation.

Being shortlisted for Social Enterprise Innovation of the Year is particularly meaningful because it recognises this approach — combining a working fabrication business with meaningful opportunities for people who may face barriers to employment. We know there aren’t many (if any?!) fabrication firms which are also social enterprises so it’s encouraging to see our niche has been noticed!

Community at the Heart of What We Do

Our nomination for Best Community Impact reflects something we see every day in the workshop.

Forge & Equip would not exist without the people who have chosen to be part of the journey. Our participants, volunteers, customers, funders, supporters and partner organisations have all played a role in helping us grow. Community isn’t only about our direct beneficiaries. It’s about enabling our funders to see that their investment matters. It’s about reducing waste and showing what can be made with ‘scrap’.

Over the past two years, we’ve welcomed people into the workshop to learn new skills, supported participants to progress towards qualifications and employment, introduced adults and young people to welding and continued developing practical opportunities for our local community.

Every small success is a reminder of why this work matters.

A Family Effort

Being named a finalist for Family Business of the Year is also something that means a great deal to us.

Like many small organisations, Forge & Equip has been built with plenty of hard work behind the scenes. It has taken long hours, encouragement, patience and support from our family and the people around us to get to where we are today.

While Daniel may be the person most often seen behind the welding mask, Forge & Equip has always been very much a team, and a family effort with he and Linsey the main players!

Thank You

We’re incredibly grateful for this recognition, but even more grateful for everyone who has supported Forge & Equip along the way.

Whether you’ve attended a session, volunteered, commissioned a fabrication project, donated materials, provided funding, shared our work or simply encouraged us, you have helped us reach this point.

We’re excited to attend the upcoming awards and celebrate alongside so many other organisations and businesses doing great things across Scotland and our local communities.

Whatever happens on the night, being recognised in these three categories is already something we’re incredibly proud of.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

From Scrap Metal to a Giant Fish: Our Project for Fringe by the Sea

How Forge and Equip, Balanced Horizon and Caledonian Horticulture came together to create a giant recycled fish with a purpose

From piles of reclaimed steel in our East Linton workshop to a giant 3-metre-high fish at Fringe by the Sea, this has been one of our most unique and most exciting fabrication projects yet!

The large sculpture is turning heads in North Berwick.

Measuring an impressive 3 metres high and 6.2 metres long, the fish has been designed and fabricated by Forge and Equip in collaboration with Balanced Horizon, an environmental charity working to restore biodiversity and ecosystems across sea, coast and land.

But this isn't just a giant metal fish.

It has a job to do.

Feed the fish!

The sculpture has been created for Fringe by the Sea to encourage festival-goers to think about recycling and dispose of their drinks cans responsibly.

Visitors can “feed the fish” by putting their empty aluminium cans through its mouth, turning recycling into something fun and interactive.

And because every fish needs a name, we're also asking festival-goers to help us choose one!

If you've got a great idea, send your suggestion to @ForgeandEquip on social media or email info@forgeandequip.co.uk.

From reclaimed steel to something spectacular

One of the things we love about fabrication is seeing what can be created from materials that might otherwise be overlooked.

The fish was constructed almost entirely from reclaimed steel and nets found during beach clean ups. Over a few weeks, the Forge and Equip workshop became a hive of cutting, shaping, welding and assembling as the different sections gradually came together.

What started as piles of scrap metal eventually became something much bigger, quite literally!

The finished sculpture is a great example of what can happen when practical skills, creativity and reused materials come together to create something with a real purpose.

And there is something particularly fitting about creating a giant recycled fish for a festival beside the sea.

A fish with a bigger purpose

For us at Forge and Equip, this project is about more than simply producing a finished piece of metalwork.

Our commercial fabrication work is an important part of how we create social impact.

Forge and Equip is a social enterprise. Alongside our professional welding and metal fabrication services, we run supportive practical training programmes and workshops for people facing barriers to employment.

The income we generate through commercial work helps us build and sustain opportunities for people to develop practical skills, confidence and experience.

So when we take on a commercial fabrication project, the impact doesn't necessarily stop when the customer receives the finished product.

The work helps us build a sustainable social enterprise that can create opportunities for people who might otherwise struggle to access practical training and employment.

In other words, the work we sell commercially helps us create the opportunities we provide socially.

We think that's a pretty good reason to build something big!

A collaboration with a shared purpose

The project came about through our collaboration with Balanced Horizon, and it has been fantastic to work with an organisation whose environmental aims connect closely with our own values around sustainability and reuse.

Daniel Melo da Silva, founder of Forge and Equip, said:

“We love creating projects that bring people together while giving new life to materials that would otherwise go to waste. This fish shows what can be achieved with imagination, practical skills and collaboration. We hope people enjoy interacting with it while thinking a little more about recycling.”

Tommy Dale, Managing Director of Caledonian Horticulture, said:

“We are delighted with the fish! We knew Forge and Equip would do a superb job on this and we really hope it becomes a talking point as we continue to help make Fringe by the Sea more environmentally friendly year by year.”

And the recycling doesn't stop at the fish

The fish is only one part of the recycling story.

Caledonian Horticulture is supporting the recycling element of the project by covering the costs and providing the resources needed to collect and process the recyclable drinks containers.

Even better, any money raised through the cup deposit return scheme will be donated to Balanced Horizon to help fund the Scottish Coastal Clean Up.

That means the project creates an environmental chain that goes beyond the festival itself:

It's a great example of how different organisations can bring their resources, skills and expertise together to create a bigger impact than any one organisation could achieve alone.

Making recycling part of the festival

It is hoped the fish sculpture will help festival goers to dispose of their waste responsibly both at the events and beyond.

The fish has also been designed to be a memorable photo opportunity for visitors of all ages.

We hope it will make people smile, encourage a few photos and, most importantly, get people thinking about what happens to the things they throw away.

Because recycling doesn't have to be boring.

Sometimes it can be a 6.2-metre-long metal fish!

Special thanks to the comprehensive drivers of East Lothian and all those who helped transport the fish!

A fantastic team safely delivered the fish.

Come and find our fish

If you're heading to Fringe by the Sea, look out for our giant fish.

📸 Take a photo.

🥫 Feed it your empty cans.

🐟 And help us give it a name!

Send your fish name suggestions to @ForgeandEquip on social media or email info@forgeandequip.co.uk.

And if you are a business, organisation or community group looking for welding, or a bespoke fabrication project, we'd love to hear from you.

The fish occupied our workshop for a few days!

New Workshop Dates Announced: Adult Welding Workshops & Young Makers

As Forge and Equip continues to grow, we've been thinking carefully about how we balance our commercial fabrication work with the community workshops that so many people enjoy.

Over the past two years, we've been encouraged by the number of people who have asked to learn welding or develop practical metalworking skills with us. Whether it's someone wanting to try welding for the first time or a young person keen to explore making and fabrication, it's been a privilege to share our workshop and our passion.

At the same time, our workshop is busier than ever with fabrication projects for customers and partners across East Lothian and supportive training for adults. To make sure we can continue delivering high-quality work while still investing in people, we're introducing a more structured programme of public workshops.

Adult Welding Workshops

Between now and Christmas we'll be running two Saturday Adult Welding Workshops.

These sessions are ideal for beginners and hobby welders who would like to learn the basics, improve their skills, or simply enjoy making something with guidance from an experienced fabricator.

Places will be limited to keep the sessions practical and hands-on, so advance booking will be essential. Full details and booking here.

Introducing Young Makers

We're also excited to launch Young Makers – a new workshop designed for young people who enjoy creating, building and learning practical skills.

Running on two Friday afternoons before Christmas, Young Makers will introduce participants to the world of fabrication through safe, supervised activities. Depending on experience and confidence, sessions may include measuring, marking out, cutting, drilling, grinding, simple fabrication and an introduction to welding.

Our aim is to help young people grow in confidence, develop practical skills and discover the satisfaction of making something with their own hands. Young makers can book in here.

Looking Ahead

These workshops are part of our commitment to creating opportunities for people to learn while ensuring our growing fabrication business continues to thrive.

If you've been waiting for the chance to join us in the workshop, we'd love to welcome you.

Inside Forge and Equip: Two Years of Welding, Learning and Community

Forge and Equip is a welding and fabrication social enterprise based in East Lothian, creating opportunities for people to develop practical skills, confidence and routes into employment or a new hobby through hands-on learning, community workshops and fabrication projects. 

Two years ago, Forge and Equip started with a simple idea: create a practical, welcoming workshop space where people could learn hands-on skills, build confidence and feel part of something meaningful.

Since then, we’ve grown into far more than just a workshop.

Over the last two years, we’ve had the privilege of supporting people from all walks of life across Edinburgh and the Lothians from young people looking for a route into employment, to adults trying welding for the very first time, to volunteers generously giving their time, skills and encouragement.

Like any small social enterprise, the journey hasn’t always been easy. Building something sustainable takes time, energy and patience. There have been pressures and challenges along the way but every participant, every finished project, every conversation in the workshop and every small success reminds us why this work matters. We’re committed to supporting meaningful opportunities for those who need and value them.

One of the biggest highlights this past year has been supporting two young men as they moved on to achieve their NCs in Welding and Fabrication. Watching people grow in confidence, develop practical skills and take real steps towards employment has been one of the most rewarding parts of the journey so far.

Alongside our training and community work, Forge and Equip has also continued developing its commercial fabrication projects. While the practical work itself is important, it has always represented something bigger than producing metalwork.

Commercial projects help create sustainability for the organisation, while also giving participants exposure to real workshop environments, real expectations and real-life fabrication experience. They allow people to develop practical skills in meaningful ways, build confidence through hands-on work, and understand what working within the industry can actually look like.

We take pride in producing high-quality fabrication work, but at its core, Forge and Equip has never just been about metal; it’s about creating opportunities, building confidence and helping people move forward.

We’ve also welcomed 13 hobby welders into the workshop, launched our first ever junior welding sessions, and continued building a community around practical learning and creativity. For many people, the workshop has become more than somewhere to learn a skill; it’s become somewhere to connect, focus, create and belong.

One of our hobby welders making her own creation.

The vision behind Forge and Equip has been shaped by the founders’ Christian faith and a belief in the importance of community, practical support and creating opportunities for people to grow in confidence and purpose. While people from all backgrounds are welcomed into the workshop, these values continue to influence the way we approach our work and relationships. 

This year we were fortunate to receive funding and in-kind support from organisations including Neptune Fabrications, Dr Guthrie, Edinburgh Community Grants, Business Gateway, Niddrie Community Church, Arca and a number of generous individuals. This support has helped us continue developing our practical skills projects and improve what we can offer to the community 

Thank you to our partners.

There are exciting things planned for the next 12 months. We’re only getting started. If you’d like to find out more about our plans for the future or how you could be involved, please get in touch: info@forgeandequip.co.uk

Free Workshop Experience Giveaway – Enter Here

This month, Forge and Equip is celebrating two years of creating opportunities, developing skills and delivering live fabrication projects with purpose.

Over the past two years, we've had the privilege of working alongside young people, adults, community groups and customers, helping people build confidence, learn practical skills and create something meaningful.

To mark the occasion, we're giving away a free Forge and Equip workshop experience for one winner randomly chosen from the shortlist.

How to Enter

To enter, simply:

• Drop us a line to say why you or someone you know would really value this opportunity.

• Submit your entry before 26.06.2026

We’ll review all eligible entries, create a shortliest and then randomly select one recipient from that shortlist.

What's Included?

The winner will receive a free workshop experience at Forge and Equip, providing the opportunity to learn practical fabrication skills, take away a real project and experience life in our workshop.

Terms and Conditions

Please read the full Terms and Conditions before entering:

Thank you to everyone who has supported Forge and Equip over the last two years. Whether you've attended a programme, commissioned a project, purchased from our shop, volunteered your time, prayed for us or simply followed our journey, you've helped make this work possible.