Overwhelmed by generosity (For Loving Hands, Shetland)

Can we, through your pages, please thank all of those who have helped with our appeal for blanket squares and hats for the Syrian refugee children living in camps in Turkey.

We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of knitters and crocheters the length and breadth of Shetland and the kindness of Shetland Art Company/ Shetland Fudge, Lerwick; Central Garage, Brae; Ollaberry School, Ollaberry and Tagon Stores, Voe for being drop off points. We have parcelled up over 18kg of squares as well as 145 hats in all sizes from premature baby and up.

Some of the squares have been sewn into blankets and are ready to go when they get to Turkey, others will be sewn together by a group called LILY (Love in the Language of Yarn) when they get there.  We also received funds towards the cost of postage, both through direct donations and through the sale of knitted chicks – and we knitted a lot of them!

Ollaberry School (where I work) really got onboard, as they have been doing a project on compassion – they kept tally of the donations and added to them by knitting, and in one case crocheting – a pupil learnt to crochet so he could make a crocheted square – their own squares. Squares by pupils, staff, former pupils and former staff were sewn together to make a school blanket to be sent complete to Turkey.

Any further donations received will be used for charities with a UK base to save postage costs. This will include Operation Orphan’s Keep a Child Warm Project in Eastern Europe which supplies coats, hats, gloves and scarves to children who have few, if any, warm clothes; Greenfields Africa who supply ‘mama bags’ to pregnant women who attend ante-natal classes containing a 1metre square blanket and a full set of baby clothes – cardigan, hat, bootees, babygro and vest;  adult hats, scarves and balaclavas are sent to Seaman’s Missions and charities working with the homeless; maternity units across the UK are supplied with baby clothes from tiny prem to full-term, burial items for those babies who don’t make it and blankets from 15” to 26” (not lacy patterns that small fingers can catch in).

The Loving Hands wishlist can be found here: http://lovinghands.freeforums.org/wish-lists-t272.html

Lou Jaap, founder of Loving Hands, claims she can place any hand crafted item with a charity that will put it to good use. Our goods are not supplied to charity shops but go direct to people who can make use of them.

Many thanks again to all those who donated or helped in any way, we would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to continue to help charities.

For Loving Hands (Shetland)

Julia Odie, Norderhoull, Voe

Kathy Manson, Maidenfield, Mossbank

Janette Ruddick, Runnadale, Ollaberry

Marianne Raikes, Stjorna, Ollaberry