Britain has over 60 different breeds of sheep, and British wool can provide the best fleece for every purpose. Until recently it cost more to shear a sheep than the value of the fleece. A sad state of affairs considering the importance of the wool trade in Britain's history.
Nowadays wool is gaining more recognition for its unique properties, and the variety of wools that British sheep can provide is increasingly appreciated, but it is often difficult to source what you want.
Woolsack was started by Sue Blacker as a Cultural Olympiad Inspire project to make British wool cushions as personal welcome gifts from the people of Britain to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The project was a great success and showed the enormous benefits of having a website that would list and link to information and sources of British wool products from spinning fibre to dyed knitting yarn and woven fabric.
This website is now the legacy from that: an expanded 'reference library' listing and linking to everything and anything to do with British wool and British wool products from raw fleeces through to finished items & fashion garments, from local events to permanent exhibitions.
The website has continued to be run and financed on a voluntary basis, by Jane Cooper. I'm a British wool enthusiast, and in 2013 I had a major life-change with a move to a 'peedie' farm in Orkney where I now have a breeding flock of Boreray sheep, our most critically endangered breed.
The website is free to use, free to be listed on, and there are no plans for any paid advertising on the website. Woolsack also uses twitter and facebook to promote British wool, inform people about its benefits and enable people to more easily source British wool products