Ever Thought About Knitting for Charity?

Are you a keen knitter? Do you enjoy wiling away the hours stitching and purling, crocheting and embroidering? Do you delight your family and friends with your knitted labours of love?

Or perhaps you knit because it helps you relax? The stress and tension-relieving qualities of knitting are enjoyed by many, with lots of people suggesting it can even help alleviate depression and anxiety.

Whatever the reason for your love of knitting, have you ever considered using your natty needles for a good cause?

There are lots of great, worthy causes out there, looking to use your donated, knitted pieces directly, or the money raised from their sale, to help many ill, injured, vulnerable and needy people and animals across the UK.

Francis House Children’s Hospice

Francis House provides valuable care and support for terminally ill children and their families.

Each year they run a Knitted Chick Easter Appeal, encouraging knitters to knit and donate little, chick-shaped, chocolate-egg covers, which are sold across Manchester to raise funds for the hospice.

Last year this appeal managed to raise over £50K selling the 41,300 chick covers donated! For 2018, knitters are encouraged to get creative and donate colourful, unique chicks. So, if you fancy getting involved, get your thinking cap on and knit a chick with lots of personality!

You can find out more about this fantastic, fundraising initiative here.

Image by Francis House

RSPCA

Since 1824, the RSPCA has worked tirelessly to help establish a world where all animals are respected and treated with compassion. From rescuing stranded animals in the wild to pushing for important changes in the law, The RSPCA fights daily for the safety and well-being of our country’s animals.

Timed with this year’s Wool Week, they reached out to the UK’s knitting communities, asking for knitted donations to keep rescued animals warm and snug. Many of their centres need specific knitted creations to keep injured, ill and neglected animals warm and comfortable, so donations of knitted nests, dog jumpers and mittens for kittens were all gratefully received!

Find out more about how these donations were put to good use here.

Photo: Alison Stolwood/RSPCA

Age UK

Age UK aims to help those in later life get the most out of every day. They inspire, enable and support the UK’s elderly in many important ways.

Recently, together with Innocent Smoothies, they encouraged UK-based knitters to knit little woolly hats, which were used to keep the smoothie bottles warm! Over 1.7 million hats were knitted, and the sale of each behatted, little bottle raised 25p for Age UK. The funds raised from this campaign were used to help combat elderly loneliness and keep keep our older citizens warm and well during the winter months.

You can find out more about this amazing, fundraising campaign here. And make sure you look out for Age UK’s next Big Knit Event.

Image by Innocent Drinks

Bliss

Bliss offers emotional and practical support to families with babies born premature or sick. They work closely with healthcare professionals, ensuring the highest possible care is administered on neonatal wards. They also fund vital research, and campaign for important changes regarding the care and wellbeing of premature and sick, newborn babies.

You can get involved and support this excellent organisation by knitting clothing, blankets and toys for the infants it cares for. They offer several, downloadable knitting patterns on their website.