TICKETS ON SALE FROM 7PM ON SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER… CLICK THIS LINK!

The Great Woolly Hugs’ Hugathon in Manchester takes place on Saturday 28th January 2023 between 11.00am and 3.30pm, at the stunning Victorian Grade 2 listed Stretford Public Hall, Manchester. We are in the ground floor Underhall.

Our Venue is fully accessible. Access to the venue is via a gentle and wheelchair-friendly ramp from the street pavement. There are accessible bathroom facilities.

TICKETS COST £15 EACH

Tickets will include a special Event tote bag with Caroline Ball design, with mystery goodies inside! We will also be running a rather fabulous Lucky Dip (£1 a go) and our legendary Gin Raffle (£1 a ticket)  We will also be running a DeStash table. If you have crafting items to donate to our DeStash table please do bring, remember one person’s destash is another person’s treasure! So do bring along some cash, or we do have a card machine if that is easier, happy to tap fpr any amount!

And finally we will play a couple of games of our infamous Yarn Bingo game, you will not want to miss this!

Our Hugathons are a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow Woolly Huggers who share a love of crafting. They are friendly and inclusive. It is a great time for chatting with your fellow Woolly crew and sharing ideas. If Tortie behaves we will let him come too! We’ve included some testimonials from folk who have been to one before, which might be useful if this is your first time.

During the Hugathon we will attempt to get as many 6 inch squares made. In Manchester we are focussing on our Candy’s Hug project. We will provide all SSDK, but please remember to bring your 4mm hooks/knitting needles, you will need them! If you have any squares already made for THIS project, please bring them, it may be that we can get some kits out for construction.

We have access to hot water for drinks, and will provide the wherewithal for making tea and coffee for a donation. Bring a packed lunch, snacks and drinks, we won’t judge if that is alcohol 🙂

COVID. Inevitably as covid is here to stay,  we will follow protocols at the time. We have visited the venue  and undertaken our risk assessment.

Do join us, we’d love to meet you or see you again. And if you are worried about not knowing anyone, let us know and we can get you seated and chatting as quick as a flash.

How to get there…

The venue address…

Stretford Public Hall, Chester Rd, Stretford, Manchester M32 0LG. (On the A56)

The Halls have their own car park, which is free to use, in our picture this is to the right as you look at it. But it is very easy to access by public transport. I took the train into Manchester Piccadilly then used the tram. It isn’t far from Manchester United ground, but they are not playing on this date, we did check!

From Manchester Piccadilly, take the Purple Line tram which runs every 12 minutes, this journey takes 20 minutes (7 stops), get off at Stretford, then it is at tops a 4 minute walk. There is an accessible route leaving the tram.

From folk who have been to a Hugathon before…

Walking into a room of people you might have never met could be daunting … but at the Hugathon you are surrounded immediately with love, purpose and wool! What better way to spend a day? Alexsis

 

A warm woolly welcome to all. I travelled there alone, anxiously entered, not knowing a soul. Within a few mins I felt so welcomed and part of this wonderful group. A room full of like minded people, wool galore, cakes, tea, coffee, and probably gin  Julie

 

A wonderful experience meeting friends and like minded people. Like sinking into a warm bath of friendship I’ve always known but never met before. Jen

Attending the Woolly Hugs Hugathon was an amazing experience, putting faces to the names you had made friends with online in the pursuit of a common goal to spread yarn love around the UK and the World. Paula

 

A fabulous day meeting ‘strangers’ I have known online for years. Sharing yarn, craft skills, cake and laughter. Returning home full of love for the wonderful Woolly Huggers! Jo

It was lovely to meet all the folk I have made virtual friends with online . It gave me a real sense of us working together helping to make something beautiful and worthwhile . It was also lovely for the chat , laughter and to admire the amazing craftmanship going on around me , and how everyone was happy to share their expertise Steph

The hugathon is where the WH virtual community crosses over into a face to face community, meeting others who you may have got to know online. It’s so lovely to be able to sit and work and natter together, comparing notes and making friends. It epitomises the spirit of WH, crafters working together to benefit others. Alison

 

I’ve only been to one but it was brilliant and had gin! Anna

 

Welcome to our Summer of Woolly Love 2021!

We go on our summer break from Monday 25th July (posting to us stops for the summer on July 15th) and we will be back on September 19th. It has been another challenging time and we can’t thank everyone enough for all your hard work, compassion and enthusiasm.

We know that many of you love a summer break project, some of you certainly need to be kept out of mischief 🙂 and if you need yarn to take part, please do message us.

Little Hugs for teens in GOSH ICU and the Teen cancer ward at The Royal Marsden.

We would like to make as many squares as possible for blankets for our wonderful teens in ICU in Great Ormond Street. Having dropped off the most enormous collection recently, we need to have more for the Autumn! Six or twelve inch squares please, knit or crochet. Not too lacy, but otherwise style, single colour/mixed colour, complexity etc totally up to you. What we would ask is that you double knot to finish (or colour change) and use a needle to sew your ends in. We have had a recent spate of collapsing squares and these blankets will have a hard life in terms of frequent washing so must be STURDY. If looking to make a whole blanket, it needs to be minimum 48 inches by 60 inches, so single bed sized.We really need these too!

We plan to use our Vibrant Riot palette as it is so super cheery.

Last posting for our Summer of Woolly Love project is Saturday 25th September

If you are looking for even more things to do…

One for the Knitters – the hats and scarves for Care Leavers. We always need more! Link to this project is here…

Our Christmas Cwtch project for 2022 is up and running, the info is here….

And Snugs too, all info is here

AND we know it is JULY, but we know quite a few people like to get ahead with Christmas crafting! The link to the crafting phase is here…

Welcome to our Christmas Craft Sale 2022 

We know it’s July! But we know crafting takes such a long time. We are delighted though to be launching our Christmas Craft Sale 2022, we hope you will join us. THANK YOU! This year, with your love and support  we are delighted to get behind the UK’s leading charity fighting suicide: CALM.

CALM provide amazing support for those worried about someone, with loads of info, ideas, suggestions, plus helplines, web chats for supporters and those struggling. They also have support and information for those who have lost someone to suicide. Reading their website, we are so impressed with the quality, breadth of info and ease of access. Please do find them and remember them. This is the link…. 

We will be sending a third of all profits to them, using two thirds to support our own projects and keep them running, ambitious and inclusive. So every penny we can raise will go to help others, we hope you will support us, either by crafting, buying or even maybe both! Thank you so so much.

So let the Crafting Stage begin!

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
• Cute cuddly things
• 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 Saturday 8th October 2022 please.

Earlier is very very helpful. thank you. 

Posting will be to Teddington, please message for the address is needed.

The Event itself…

Our Christmas Craft sale and Auction will take place ONLINE on a Facebook Event page as before, between Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd November. 

We will set up the event page after the Summer break. 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.

Thank you so much EVERYONE!