Please do not post until we are back after our Summer break next year! Last posting please November 15th 2025!
This is a wonderful project we have worked on for the last couple of years.
Care Leavers Christmas Dinners were originally set up by the poet Lemn Sissay to help communities provide a Christmas Day for young care leavers (of foster and care homes) aged 18-25, who often spend the day alone. It aims to be a magical day to be cherished and remembered by those who attend, with care leavers being able to gather together for food, pressies, company and fun on the 25th.. Please see the link which gives more detail regarding The Dinner: http://thechristmasdinners.org.uk/
One of their organisers, Katie coordinates knitters to gift hand knitted hats and scarves to include with the presents given to the care leavers. The Care Leavers project collected around 200 hand knitted and donated hat and scarf sets last year to gift to care leavers in Leeds and Bradford and two Christmas Dinner groups in London.
The aim this year is to gift hat and scarf sets to as many Christmas Dinner groups across the UK as possible.
Here is where we come in….
If you would like to be involved with the project and knit a hat and scarf gift set for the care leavers attending the 2025 Christmas Dinners in the UK, READ ON YOU LOVELY PERSON!
The crafting info is specific and precise, so if you are keen, make sure you are meeting their criteria! This is not our own project so we have to fit in!
We will need folk to commit to a hand AND scarf set
Crafting Info
The chosen patterns (Wheat Scarf and Barley Hat) can be downloaded for free from the Tin Can Knits website (see link below). If any knitters prefer to knit flat rather than in the round the alternative hat pattern we ask them to use is the Basic Family Knit Hat pattern which can be downloaded for free from the Yarnspirations website (see link below).
We ask that the hat is made WITHOUT the pompom.
We ask that the yarn used is machine washable, aran weight in solid, gender and cheery neutral colours. Thinking about this we’d suggest reds, oranges, blues, greens, plums, purples, greys, black?
Adult size please.
Add a Christmas label sending Christmas wishes and letting the recipient know how best to care for their gift.
Unfortunately hookers will have to sit this one out as there is no given crochet alternative. Or maybe this is the time to learn to knit??
They would also greatly accept any knits for children and babies, as young care leavers attending the dinner sometimes have children of their own. The two hat patterns include sizes for babies and children, but any pattern can be used be it hats, garments, booties, etc. Any colour of yarn can be used for children and babies knits.
Please remember you are making a wonderfful Christmas gift so do take time to write a gift tag, wish them a Merry Christmas, and tie up the set together. No need to wrap, the young people get to choose a colour they would like.
Welcome to our Easter 2024 fundraising craft sale and Auction crafting phase!
Thank you so much for joining us. All funds raised will go directly into our own Woolly Hug projects. 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 would love our crafters to make Spring/Easter 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. We will then sell these beauties through the sale.
Some suggestions for you, but we are very open to others too…
Spring and Easter decorations, bunting, garlands, Easter egg themes etc
Anything sheep wise is always popular!
Small gifts – Little bags, purses, brooches, hair accessories, key rings, gift bags, tags,
Clothing – but lightweight please, we find heavier winter hats, scarves don’t sell well at this time. PLEASE include the yarn type or ball band so we can let folk know how to wash their new treasure. Socks are always very popular!
Woolly, fabric, card, embroidered, beaded, all crafty crafts welcome!!
Lovely lovely things!
Absolute last posting for crafts to be February 12th please, earlier is better for us if at all possible.
Please message for the posting information if you need, but it will be Teddington.
The Event itself…
Our Spring/Easter 2024 Craft sale and Auction will take place ONLINE on a Facebook Event page and our own Auction site attached to this website as before, between Tuesday 5th March and Saturday 9th March. ( Sunday is Mothers’ day)
Some items will be up for instant sale on our 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. Do message us if you have any questions.
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.
The Great Woolly Hugs’ York Hugathon takes place on Saturday 2nd March 2024 between 11am and 3.30pm. Our venue is at St Olave’s Church Hall, Marygate Lane, York, England, YO30 7DS. This is very near to the beautiful Museum Gardens, and easily accessed by public transport, The venue is accessible, with accessible facilities. All further information is on the Eventbrite page, link below.
Please join us! And if you are worried about not knowing anyone,
Tickets will be on sale on Eventbrite from 7pm on December 1st, The link is here….
“This trip feels like a Christmas miracle.”
From Masha, one of the wonderful Ukrainian children who’d come to Lublin, Poland for a respite holiday. One day we’ll meet in Ukraine. Next year? Wouldn’t THAT be a Christmas miracle?
Not all children could come to Poland, and we wanted to make sure we could send blankets back with the children and teachers, to reach as many from Korosten (home town) as possible.
So these lovely children are in their school in Korosten. This is approximately 100 miles NW of Kyiv., 70 ish from Chernobyl
Irina and the other teachers have been absolutely wonderful and the blankets already going out! You may even see a Bestie as we found a few left from Camp Bestival and took those with us. They loved them!
Enjoy these photos. Thank you so much everyone again for making this happen. Much love this Christmas time.
We are home. And the children are safely back home with their families in Ukraine. They live at Korosten, near Kyiv.
After last night’s excitement and emotions, there was only one thing to do. Set up a VPN and watch the Strictly final on iPlayer! Excellent show. Worthy winners.
Sunday morning. Homeward bound.
Tortie is also home. He didn’t accidentally get on the Ukraine bound bus!
We have in our possession a powerful precious piece made by the children. They were given a Ukrainian flag and on this they wrote messages of peace, hope, love and anti war. It’s so incredibly moving. We were so deeply touched to have been given this and will bring it to Hugathons to share with you.
And we love our special pin badges as in the featured image. We are better together.
Our first thanks go to YOU. You the woolly hugs crafting community. 150 blankets were delivered. And we took a load of heart hearts which we gave to the mums, who were so touched and delighted. This is a huge amount of crafting hours and we are so grateful. It truly makes a difference in the lives of others. It’s a wonderful thing. So THANK YOU!
Huge thanks to the amazing CCLL’s CEO Dennis Vystavkin who was so well supported by lovely Galina, his wonderful mum. These two are driving the van home, and are the only ones not home yet. News soon we hope. Thanks too to Big Mike Lafferty from Ayrshire, Andy March of Bristol, all the wonderful, inspirational teachers from Korosten, the children who are a delight and an utter joy, and the staff at Hotel Regionalny for being so warm and welcoming. Also the teams at Eleon and Caritas, both doing wonderful work.
As we parted from our new friends last night we said ‘Next year in Ukraine.’Let us hope the war ends and this can become a reality.
G&G
Sunday 17th December 2023
If you are interested, this project is already underway for next year. All help gratefully received. Please read carefully for crafting info and time schedules. THANK YOU!
https://www.woollyhugs.org/2023/07/12/chernobyl-2024-reach-for-the-stars/
On our way over to the children’s hotel. First time we’ll see it in the daylight! The queue for the border is still 30 miles long. More fuel tankers today. At the moment Ukraine is importing all its fuel. So this really isn’t good. It was such a joy to prepare party tables for all the children coming. These children and mums have left Ukraine and are living in Lublin as refugees. This is a tough experience. And their worries will be for their menfolk who have been called up. It was such a privilege to be able to do something lovely for them.
Blanket giving was such a wonderful thing. Honestly your love shone from the blankets.
These children today were younger than the ones we have been with on their respite break. And they loved choosing. Again some had an immediate connection with a blanket, others took an age. And each were lovely to see!
Again, not every blanket and child are shown, because in some cases it wasn’t right to push for a photo. So please celebrate each one. These children have very little. They are just like our own childrenLeaving the country would have been a very immediate process, with limited options to take stuff.
Love in every stitch we say. Always true.
And once the children had their blanket it was party lunch time. This was joyfully riotous! And something rather special happened. Lots of the kids gave their blankets to their mums to look after. And those mums all wrapped themselves up. These mums are young, isolated, away from home and worried for the men in their lives.
Have a look.
Wonderful pics aren’t they? These people have nothing. Our blankets gave love and joy at every turn. Thank you all so much for making this happen. It’s a truly astonishing thing.
Then it was time to party! games, dancing, confetti. Even a 6ft 4 Glaswegian elf arrived!
We were treated to a farewell concert on our last night. With songs and dances, this was truly beautiful. The children beautifully sang their hearts out on a Ukrainian folk song called Marigolds. Marigolds are resilient and grow even when you think they’ve gone, they grow back. Beautiful, haunting, poignant.
Saying goodbye ‘for now’ was incredibly tough. They ask that when they win the war that we visit them in Ukraine. Of course we will. Let’s all pray that this is sooner rather than later.
