We realise this is a very sensitive project and it may bring up difficult feelings for some of you.

We are looking to make some cotton and fleece quilts for the hospice as an ongoing project. Becki from Haven House has written below for us, it is better she explains the project.

 

A very sad but vital part of our work at Haven House is the care of babies, children and young people at end of life and post bereavement.

Sometimes we do not meet the families until after their child has passed away and they come to us to spend precious time with their child before the funeral.We also work with families in their own homes and being able to keep their child with them is a choice every parent should be able to make.To facilitate this, we use cooling blankets and cuddle cots. I am sure you understand what they are for, so I won’t go into detail.

As useful as they are, they are a clinical and ugly piece of equipment, and we need your help to make them look more friendly and comfortable. To this end we would like some of your beautiful quilts to lay on top of the pads. The sizes of the pads are

• Small cooling pad   ( 154mm x 290mm )
  Large cooling pad    (400mm x 550mm )

It would be helpful to have the quilts slightly bigger than the pad, by giving them a border of 10cm all round.

We would like them to be fleece backed to make them less slippery and to help with absorbing any water from the cooling systems.

Thinking about the designs: lots of pattern, avoiding very light or very dark colours. Child friendly and they can be gender specific or gender neutral to appeal to the biggest range of families. Some are quite traditional, and others just want to celebrate their girly girls and boyish boys.

It is likely that some families will want to keep the quilts, and we would very much like to let them.

It is difficult to predict how many we will need each year. Sadly, we supported several families in the last 12 months but in previous years we may only see 1-2 families in these circumstances.

My plan is to have a ‘home kit’ ready for our outreach nurses. This will contain bedding, quilts and blankets as well as the clinical equipment our team need to care for the child.

I want every family to have access to the best care at this time, I cannot provide the medical expertise, but I know, with your help, I can ensure the environment is as kind and comfortable as possible.

Love  B x

 

With your love and support we believe we can help these families in such bleak times.

To sum up then, we are looking for lightweight quilts, cotton topper, some batting in the middle (light to medium weight) with fleece backing. We know we have many crafters who sew beautifully, and this is such a simple project really. Sizes as above.

While we’d like to get some quilts in both sizes to the hospice soon, this is an ongoing project, and we will add it to the others. So this des not need to be a rush.

Thank you so much everyone, we really appreciate you all.

 

 

Tickets will be available via this link here, from 7pm on July 1st 2024!

The Great Woolly Hugs’ Christmas Hugathon in Manchester takes place on Saturday 30th December between 11.00am and 3.30pm, at the stunning Victorian Grade 2 listed Stretford Public Hall, Manchester. We are in the ground floor Old Library.

All info about this event is on the Eventbrite page. Please come! THANK YOU!

Little Iris wanted to say thank you for the gorgeous blanket she was given on the children’s ward where we spent a good chunk of her first five weeks of life and also the special Christmas one she received as a gift on her first ever Christmas. They definitely brightened our time there and we still use our rainbow blanket every day. Thank you to the lovely talented people who made them! Xx”

We were delighted when the staff at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle contacted us a couple of years ago and asked for help. They asked if it were possible to make some very special Little Hugs to use in the run up to Christmas for very sick children in  hospital over this period. The pictures here are from previous projects, and we are delighted they would like us to make for the children again. This project will again help children and their families at very difficult times.

For the Woollies…

We are looking for six and twelve inch squares in the SSDK colours below. Christmas designs/themes/embellishments warmly welcomed. Fill your boots! Just this yarn in these colours please so we can match up squares and the blankets will be consistent for wash and wear.

• Claret
• Cream
• Grass green
• Green
• Kelly green
• Lipstick

For the Sewing Folk…

Christmas cwtches could also be made in these sort of colours in cotton Christmassy prints, lightweight quilts. These must be machine washable and tumble dry possible only please.

For both yarn and fabric

• Size wise we are aiming to send a mix of sizes from baby sized (24 inch squares) up to single bed sized.

Please no posting before September 2023, then whole blankets/quilts and separate squares please to Teddington.

October 7th. Last posting for whole Cwtches and Cwtch squares.

We know this is super early, but we also know our lovely crafters like to plan and that crafting takes such a long time. We are delighted though to be launching our Christmas Craft Sale 2024, we hope you will join us. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and will help us raise much needed funds to continue our woolly work. With your love and support we hope it is a huge success! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!

The charity we shall support too this Christmas will be Parkinson’s UK.

Parkinson is a cruel disease. It is a progressive neurological condition. It affects people in different ways and to different degrees, but main symptoms include tremor, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness. It affects balance and can cause nerve pain.

This wonderful charity help support those living with it, those caring for others and young onset diagnosis, Their support includes how to improve every day life, work, legal, driving, relationships and family life.

As the largest European charitable funder of Parkinson’s research, Parkinson’s UK has invested over £100 million in vital research that has delivered groundbreaking discoveries, new medications and better care.

They say

By funding the right research into the most promising treatments, we get closer to a cure every day. Until then, we’re here for everyone affected by Parkinson’s.   We’ll find a cure. Together.

 

We plan to send a donation of at least £500 to them after the sale. the reminder will go into our own charitable projects.

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.

Last posting for crafts please – November 1st. This is to Teddington. THANK YOU!

November 18th – 25th. The event itself will take place as usual all online through a Facebook event page and an Auction site attached to this website.

So let the Crafting Stage begin!

We are aiming to make and sell small/lightweight Christmas craft items. 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.  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 / Besties
• 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
• Bunting – everyone LOVES bunting. This could be sewn, knitted, crocheted etc.
• Pocket friends, no bigger than palm size. Would suggest cute.
• Book marks
• Covered tape measures
• Sewing type needle cases
• Wreaths
• Coasters
• Cards
• Lavender bags

• Pencil/ hook cases
• Hair accessories
• Brooches
• Keyring/bag tags
• Pin cushions
• face scrubbies
• Covered notebooks
• Animal headbands
• Lovely lovely things!
• Woolly, fabric, embroidered, beaded, ALL crafty crafts welcome!!

Just a few examples of the treasure sent last Christmas…