Woolly hugs

The Great Central London Hugathon. Saturday 21st March 2026
2026-03-21 11:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London) | Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust,, 17 Stukeley Street,, London, WC2B 5LT, United Kingdom
The Great Woolly Hugs’ Central London Hugathon takes place on Saturday 21st March 2026, between 11am and 3.30pm. Our venue is the wonderful Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust,, 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LT. This is easily accessed by public transport. The venue is accessible, with accessible facilities.
Tickets cost £20 each. On Sale from 7pm on Friday 23rd January.
Our Hugathons are a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow Woolly Huggers who share a love of crafting.They are very 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, although he says he is keen to go to the British Museum which is not far away. 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 London we are focussing on our Chernobyl 2026 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 ONLY, please bring them, it may be that we can get some kits out for construction.
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!
And finally we will play our Yarn Bingo game, you will not want to miss this!
Bring a packed lunch, snacks and drinks, there is limited kitchen access and we will provide tea and coffee making facilities. Although this is London, so there are shops, coffee places etc nearby!
The Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust provides enormous and critical support for local families and individuals, through an enormous range of activities and provision. They themselves are a charity. And renting out their hall helps fund projects. One of the fundamental resources onsite is they provide emergency food support. And we thought how lovely it would be if our attendees brought something for this, be a great way for us to support them in a basic and practical way. So if you can, please add something to your bag on the day, needs to be long life, in date and unopened obvs.
Suggestions

Breakfast cereal
Pasta
Instant noodles
Rice
Tinned meat, fish, fruit, vegetables
Baked beans, spaghetti, tinned tomatoes
UHT milk
Sanitary pads also very useful

If you can do this it will be incredibly kind. THANK YOU!!

How to get here…
If arriving by taxi or uber… Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust, 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LT
The two closest tube stations are Holborn (not accessible) which is on the Central line and about a 5 minute walk, and and Covent Garden (accessible) on the Piccadilly line which is approx a 7 minute walk. It is only about a 30 minute walk from Waterloo.
The whole area is well serviced by busses, the closest stop being Drury Lane (Stop S) for busses 8 and 188

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.

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
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

The Great Belfast Hugathon. Saturday 9th May 2026
2026-05-09 11:00 - 15:30 | Rosario Parish Centre, 503 Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3GR, United Kingdom
The Great Woolly Hugs’ Belfast Hugathon takes place on Saturday 9th May 2026, between 11am and 3.30pm, at Rosario Parish Centre. (Also known as Holy Rosary or Good Shepherd) 503 Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3GR
Thank you so much to lovely Maggie S for being our Belfast connection and for finding this beautiful venue.
Rosario is in a pleasant, quiet neighbourhood in the area known as upper Ormeau (or more formally, Ballynafeigh).. There is hotel/BandB and Airbnb accommodation within walking distance, also plenty of restaurants, cafes, pubs, shop etc about 10 minutes walk
Tickets cost £20 each. On Sale from 7pm on Friday 28th February.
Our Hugathons are a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow Woolly Huggers who share a love of crafting.They are very 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, although he says he is keen to go to the Titanic Museum which is not far away.
All venues like this in Belfast are dry. No alcohol allowed on premises, so please leave your tins of gin at home this time! We are forming Plan B for the gin raffle!
During the Hugathon we will attempt to get as many 6 inch squares made. In Belfast we are focussing on our Snugs 2026 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 ONLY, please bring them, it may be that we can get some kits out for construction.
We will also be running a rather fabulous Lucky Dip (£1 a go) and our legendary NOTGIN 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!
And finally we will play our Yarn Bingo game, you will not want to miss this!
Bring a packed lunch, snacks and drinks, there is kitchen access and we will provide tea and coffee making facilities.

How to get here..
It’s about 2 miles from the city centre and Grand Central bus/rail station and about 1.5 miles from Botanic Avenue and Queens University.
There is a frequent bus service linking Rosario to the city centre, stations and university, and there are numberous hotels and other accommodation options along that route. Bus stops are 2-3 minutes walk along Ormeau Road.
Rosario is at the junction of Ormeau and Ravenhill (two arterial routes), which makes is easy for drivers to find. It’s easily accessible from the motorways without crossing the city centre. £20-£25 for 4 person taxi to airport. There is plenty of parking at the venue.
