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Above is the final collection from 2018. Thank you to all wonderful crafters, they are on their way! x

 

 

This is a wonderful project making cuddly friends to give to children in Belarus. It is run through a charity we have supported for the last two years with summer blankets called Friends of Chernobyl Children who as well as bringing children over, work with families in remote areas in Belarus experiencing extreme poverty in very challenging conditions.

Yes, we know we are starting this in July! But we know how much time and energy these things take.

Can you help us?

• We are looking for homemade cuddly friends to go and give huge hugs to children this Christmas time.
• Knit, crochet, sewn all very welcome indeed.
• Teddies, rabbits, people, this bit is up to you!
• Avoid white and very pale colours for practical reasons.
• Size wise – approx 20 – 30cm, not much bigger please for transportation purposes.
• We don’t know exactly the ages of the children who will receive them, so please avoid buttons and trimmings that might be dangerous for little ones.  Think safety!
• These are for boys and girls, neutral is good, but we would love some aimed at each too.
• Our Christmas Hugs will be given to the children during December/January in time for the Orthodox Christmas

Last posting for our Christmas Hug project is November 1st 2018.

Thank you so much, as always. xxx

Welcome to our Christmas Craft Sale 2018 for the amazing charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young)

So pleased to announce that this year’s Christmas craft sale will be supporting the amazing work of CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) For EVERY family affected and always remembering WatcherOfTheNight’s daughter Ashlee who tragically and very suddenly died unexpectedly, later it was found out she had died from Sudden Arrythmogenic Death Syndrome. They had no idea.

 

Every week in the UK at least 12 young people die of undiagnosed heart conditions. Since its formation in 1995, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) has been working to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD). CRY supports young people diagnosed with potentially life-threatening cardiac conditions and offers bereavement support to families affected by YSCD. CRY promotes and develops heart screening programmes and funds medical research. CRY publishes and distributes medical information written by leading cardiologists for the general public. CRY funds specialist referral, screening and cardiac pathology services at leading UK hospitals.

 

CRY offers subsidised ECG and Echocardiogram screening to all young people between the ages of 14 & 35. All of CRY’s public events are free to attend. This is a fabulous charity doing much needed work and we would like to support them. *We will send a third of all we make to CRY and use two thirds for Woolly Hugs’ own ongoing projects to help keep them running and inclusive. 

 

Every penny raised will go to help others, we hope you will support us, either by crafting, buying or even maybe both! Thank you so so much. x

 

*Crafting info…*

We are aiming to make and sell small/lightweight Christmas craft items, and to keep postage costs to a minimum we ask that ideally anything made can be sent on to a buyer in a large envelope. We are open to larger items too obviously, that is just a guide.

Some suggestions for you, but we are very open to others too…

• Stocking fillers, although obviously Father Christmas is REAL, this is just to help.
• Christmas tree decorations, bunting, garlands, general decorations. Always very popular, as are totally bonkers quirky things, yes we are thinking gin wreaths, woolly slugs and sock pigs, who knew??!  😀
• Stockings
• Small gifts – Little bags, purses, brooches, hair accessories, key rings, gift bags, tags,
• Clothing items such as gloves, hats, scarves, – if making clothing PLEASE inc the ball band or let us know so we can pass this info on to those who buy. xxx
• Lovely lovely things!

Woolly, fabric, embroidered, beaded, all crafty crafts welcome!!

 

*Last posting for crafts to be Monday 29th October please. It takes so long to get ready for a sale! Please PM for the posting information.*

*The Event itself…*

Our Christmas Craft sale and Auction will take place ONLINE on a Facebook Event page as before, between Wednesday 21st – Sunday 25th November.  

Some items will be up for instant sale on this event wall during this time, others through auction on our Auction Site which will help folk not on Facebook, or those who prefer to take part in this way.

We are keeping it all crossed that this Sale will be a huge success, with your love and support we have every confidence, huge heartfelt thanks.

 

 

Remembering Ashlee  x

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Help Father Frost! The Christmas Stocking Project 2018

Our deadline will be last posting on Monday 22nd October. Address for sending will be Teddington.

Our wonderful friends at the Mid Suffolk Chernobyl Children’s Life line run a fantastic Christmas project and in addition to sending them our summer blankets, we would love to help this group to help even more children. This is a fabulous idea which very much appeals to us, we hope it will do you too!

In the run up to Christmas, they personally take filled stockings to Belarus, to very sick children in hospitals and also to the homes of very disadvantaged children. Their aim is to give the children a real Christmas present and those they give to have most likely never received a Christmas present before.  It is very important to note this is absolutely not one of those shoe box appeals, so these stockings do not include functional toothpaste/brush type items, and there are no strings attached. It is just a wonderful thing to be able to do for some of the most disavanted and sick children.

Would you like to help us?!!

We are looking for home made ( knit, crochet or sewn) stockings, OR shop bought stockings, we found some today (June) on Ebay and Amazon but PLEASE as close to the size below as possible.  These can be sent full, all guidance below, or empty for them to fill. We need both. You can also just contribute little gifts/sweets if you prefer. There are very specific guidelines for these Christmas stockings, you will appreciate lovely Elizabeth Parker and her group have to get them over to Belarus in their own luggage, so please make sure you read carefully.

Here’s how to help…

1. Whether it is home made or shop bought, stockings need to be as close to 18cm by 40cm  (approx 7” x 16) which seems to be average standard size of shop bought ones.
2. Empty stockings are very useful, but if you would like to fill one please read on…
3. The stockings can contain anything that would be considered a Christmas present but for this project, no utility items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste
4. A list of suggested items is below but these are by no means the only items to be included, feel free to add anything you want!
5. The gifts inside the stockings should not be wrapped in Christmas paper as this makes it easier if they are stopped at customs.
6. They aim to take stockings for children from birth to 16 years . Most people want to give to young children so some for older teenagers would be appreciated, but whichever age range you go for they are very grateful.  Aim for one of these… 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8. 8-10, 10-12, 12-14, 14-16, and decide boy or girl.
7. VERY IMPORTANT – Completed stockings should weigh no more than 650 grams please and need to be able to lie as flat as possible for travelling purposes.
8. Just decide your age group and make sure it all fits in the weight.
9. Reiterating the 650g weight limit!

What to put in to a stocking…The items listed are only some suggestions, please feel free to add your own items

1. Liquids may not be sent neither should toy guns, knives or other weapons etc be sent to boys as some parents might object to these.
2. A small soft toy
3. Small ornaments (all children love dogs and cats)
4. A “Barbie” or Action Man type Doll
5. temporary tattoos
6. lip balm
7. flavoured chapsticks
8. Magic Gloves
9. Hair slides, bobble, elastics etc for girls, colourful, sparkly items are really liked.
10. Girls love all things pink and “blingy” !
11. Wrist bands for boys
12. Fridge Magnets are a big favourite
13. Small logic puzzles, i.e. the ones we use to get where you had to roll a few small balls around and get
    them in the right place.
14. Spinner toys
15. Bracelets and necklaces for girls
16. Balsa wood models
17. Polystyrene plane kits
18. Small cars or other models
19. Small windup toys
20. Marbles – quite heavy but a few would be ok and the children really love them
21. Stickers – all the children seem to collect these
22. Yo yo
23. Harmonica
24. Funny socks and slipper socks are liked very much, particularly if they are “Character “ones.
25. Warm tights for girls – they like bright colors
26. Small notebook – pretty ones for girls
27. Pens, pencils – biros should be blue not black please
28. colouring pencils
29. Small coin purses
30. Pretty notebooks
31. Pencil case
32. Any toys with LED lights – particularly the stretchy/squishy ones
33. Small packets of sweets
34. Folding shopping bags (older girls)
35. Keyrings
36. Slipper socks

We will have quite a bit of admin this end, so please send any filled stockings to us wrapped in a carrier bag with a list of the contents jotted down on a bit of paper and the weight in grammes We need to fill in a spreadsheet which helps with customs and this will mean we wont have to empty each one! We will add a numbered sticker to your bag which will help as the group try to get a photo of each stocking with their recipient where possible.  Buy in your tissues in readiness!

 

Deadline…

• Deadline will be last posting on Monday 22nd October. Address forsending will be Teddington. Thank you so much for even reading this far!

If you have any questions please do message us! Thank you so much

 

 

Our first collection, leaving with the advance party in August!

 

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