I have found the woolly world of knitters and crocheters to be such a warm and wonderful place. I have met such lovely, kind and generous people through my love of yarn, many of whom are more than happy to share their skills, give advice and tips and provide so much inspiration for future projects.
Once a month, I get together with a group of crocheters in Letchworth and we have been making and sewing together granny squares for the Blankets for the Homeless project. Last month we finished our second blanket and we are well on the way to completing a third. We call this group Crochet for Comfort, as hopefully our handmade blankets will provide much comfort for those that need it. The group meets on the last Thursday of every month at the Nourish café in Letchworth between 10.30 and 1pm. Anyone can come along, even if you cannot crochet but would like to learn, I can show you the basics and help you make a granny square. Details of this group are on my events page.
The Blankets for the Homeless project has collected 486 blankets to date. These have been distributed to Taunton, Canterbury, Ashford, Derby, Scunthorpe, Chatham, Gravesend, Maidstone, London, Dartford and Manchester. A lot of love and yarn has gone into making those blankets!
Whilst simply making a blanket or two is of course, not going to solve the huge and complicated issue of homelessness, this small act of kindness also gives the opportunity to raise people’s awareness and makes us think of others less fortunate than ourselves.
I read last month a shocking statistic from Crisis, who reported that rough sleeping in England has soared by 15% with more than 4,700 people sleeping outside on any given night. I simply cannot image what that must be like in the freezing temperatures that we are experiencing at the moment.
It is widely known that people who have experienced homelessness are more likely to have poor physical and mental health than the general population. This is both a cause and consequence of homelessness. I hope that the blankets we have made will give some physical comfort and the people receiving them will know that they are being thought of.
