This took place over the weekend of September 5th-7th, with MiaFest September 20th-21st 2014. Huge thanks to all who supported this event!

We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce the final amount raised by our Craft Sale and Auction for Mia’s Wood!

Drum roll please…….

Tree planting at Mia’s Wood

As part of MiaFest we were able to help with planting the new acer trees which were bought with some ofthe funds raised at our Woodland Craft sale.  A real privilege to do so on everyone’s behalf. Magic. Their Autumnal colours will be utterly glorious. There will be bulbs planted too – snowdrop, narcissi and crocus.
 

This is what we did!

Woodland Craft Sale for Mia’s Wood

Last posting for crafts to be Wednesday 27th August. Please PM for the posting information.

The Craft Sale and Auction

The sale itself will take place between the evening of Friday 5th September and Sunday 7th September (tbc) and will be run through an Event page attached to our Woolly Hugs’ Facebook page. MNWoollyHugs.

The Auction for the Autumnal Woodland Woolly Hug  will take place over the weekend, finishing on the Sunday evening at 9pm, tbc.

 

TOTAL IN… £3008.23!!
(Paypal, cheques, Bank Transfers)
Less postage… £233.69

TA DA! £2774.54!

We are really pleased to be announcing our Woolly Hugs’ Christmas fundraiser for 2015. We hope that you will be able to help us in some way.

Caring is such an important part of life. It’s simply part of being human. All over the UK, fabulous carers work tirelessly, holding their families together, enabling loved ones to get the most out of their lives. This can be very hard, physically and emotionally, and has a considerable effect on the carer, whatever age they may be. They are often unsung heroes, and yet what they do is utterly amazing. Stars, all of them.

This year we are hoping to do something a bit different, we would love to be able to support _two_ brilliant charities – CarersUK and the Honeypot Children’s Charity for young carers.

CarersUK understand the pressures on families, they know how being a carer can be exhausting, worrying and isolating, and how people can be stretched to the limit, juggling families and work to support a loved one who may be older, disabled or seriously ill. CarersUK are there day and night to make life better for the carer, they listen, offer expert and tailored advice and are a very welcoming, supportive community. It is very reassuring for those they help to know that they are not alone.

The Honeypot Children’s Charity offers respite breaks and outreach support to young carers, children who have to give support to someone they love, this may be emotional support, or more physical care with medication, household chores, or help with personal care. Young carers often have to cope with adult pressures and they can have an unbelievably tough time. Being a young carer can impact on a child’s education, and often leaves no time for making friends or socialising with their peers. The Honeypot Children’s Charity offers great support and helps children enjoy being children away from stressful responsibilities they face at home. Young carers enjoy a rare opportunity to play freely in a therapeutic environment, and have great fun with others going through similar difficulties..

We want to help them both, we hope you will join us. Here’s how.

Crafting Information

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. 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.

* Stockings

* Small gifts – Little bags, gloves, purses, brooches, hair accessories, key rings, gift bags, tags, lovely lovely things!

Woolly, fabric, embroidered, all crafty crafts welcome.

Items from last year can be seen in our Christmas albums on our Facebook page, Woolly Hugs.

Last posting for crafts to be Saturday 14th November please. But do post earlier if you are able to, we are ready, so any time! Please PM for the posting information.

If you would like to contribute funds to help others craft we would love to hear from you. Our Paypal is admin@woollyhugs.com

The Event itself…

Our Christmas Craft sale will take place ONLINE between the evening of Thursday 26th November and run through to Sunday 29th November. It will be organised through an Event page linked to our Woolly Hugs’ Facebook page, as we have done before. In addition we will be auctioning a range of items through our website which will help folk not on Facebook, or those who prefer to take part in this way.

Huge thanks once again.

Woolly Hugs on FB, @Woolly_Hugs on Twitter

Thank you to EVERYONE for supporting our Valentine’s Craft Sale 2016

Total in : £721.78
Less PO : £78.31 Then someone donated the postage money, so back up!!

Total raised £721.78!!

We appreciate every single penny, all go to supporting our ongoing projects, thank you so much xxx

•  Blankets are going to the children! This shows the whole collection for Portsmouth.

For the last two years we have been making warm, comforting Little Hugs for Belarusian teenagers visiting the Leeds area for recuperative holidays during the summer with the fabulous charity the Chernobyl Children’s Project. [[http://beta.woollyhugs.com/index.php/current-projects/ Photos from previous projects are here…]] Each year these marvellous folk bring children over who live in the most contaminated area near the Chernobyl reactor. In summer, when the dust causes radiation levels to rise, it becomes even more important for as many children as possible to leave their contaminated homeland for a few weeks of fresh air and clean food. The rates of childhood cancer are at 75%; the most common cancers being thyroid and leukaemia. Coming to the UK for a four week break increases their immunity against the awful disease by up to 3 years when they return home.

This year the group in Leeds are again bringing older children/teens over who have had cancer and are now in remission. Sadly though there is a high chance of these children falling ill again. They all suffer living in such difficult conditions and with very little.

But we always want to do more, and we have been in contact with two further groups. These are based in Billericay and Portsmouth, and support slightly younger children, and run by the Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline. In essence they do the same wonderful work in bringing children over for respite from the shocking conditions.

How perfect it would be to make them each a Little Hug.
So that’s 36 blankets! [grin] [star] [star] [wine]

With your help we know we can do this

Please do join us, here’s how..

Crafting Information

•  We would like 12″ squares in bright and cheery Stylecraft Special DK colours.
•  PLEASE AVOID bright green, bright pink, browns, greys, citron, sunshine, fiesta and jaffa. This will help squares   fit together more easily.
•  Make in a non-specific colour theme, or specifically for a boy or girl.
•  We will be happy to accept 6″ squares if making a 12″ one feels too much.
•  Crochet or knitted, 4mm hook or needles. No blocking and please sew in pesky ends.
•  If needed, we can supply yarn. Let us know if we can send to you.
•  If you are thinking about making a whole blanket, please contact us first, thank you. We will ask that whole blankets be suitably neutral or rainbow in colour to suit either boy or girl easily, so avoid pinks and think about designs. Still cheery colours though please!
•  Blankets are to be 48 inches by 60 inches.
•  We have started earlier than previously, as the first group (Portsmouth) arrive in May.
•  Initial stage of crafting is over and kits are with the construction crew, photos as soon as we have..

No later please as we have to get on and sort at the end of that week. Thank you.

Supporting with funds
If anyone would like to donate funds to support this, we would be so grateful. Our paypal is admin@woollyhugs.com . Cheques and cash are very welcome too, just PM for the address. We are grateful for every single penny.

Can anyone help with extras?
There are a few extras which we will be collecting too alongside squares, items which really help, if you would like to add in any of these we would love to receive them for the children, thank you, bless you.

* Pants adult size 8-10, 10- 12 and 12-14. New only***
* Adult size socks (one size fits all) new
* Adult vitamins
* Toothbrushes
* Hairbrushes
* Toiletries
* Good  quality second hand clothing (inc pyjamas)  age 10 – 13+
* Boys and Girls Underwear – Socks and Pants (10-13 yrs) New only***
* Sanitary Towels
* Plasters
* Vitamins
* Dry, long lasting and lightweight food (tea, coffee, dried soup, noodles)

* If you would like to add 50p in when you post squares for ice creams that would be so kind, we will split any money we receive between the three groups. [star]

What a big ask! Good grief!
But the fabulous Woolly Hug crew never fail to amaze,  last year was an astonishing team effort, we know that together we can do this.

On behalf of these children and their families, a huge THANK YOU.
Actually, thank you doesn’t really come close. xxx