St Mary’s church knitting group was the recipient of a gift of a large knitted Christmas tree, pictured here, made by members of St Michael’s church, Betchworth, Surrey. It was finally delivered in March after appalling weather stopped several planned drop offs, in the form of the nearly 700 squares of which it was made, and since then the knitters have been busy sewing the squares
Ladies of the knitters group with the blankets into blankets for Syrian refugee camps, which go out through the Samara’s Aid charity.
Green is apparently a favourite colour in Syria, and so far 18 blankets have been produced, some of them very large! No religious symbols are permitted and blankets made of a lot of white squares are not accepted either, so the white squares were sewn into small blankets for the premature baby unit at the Conquest Hospital. Two blankets have been held back for the time being, to feature in the knitting group’s floral display at St Mary’s flower festival, over the second May bank holiday.
The latest consignment of banana boxes full of blankets and other knitted items was sent to the depot in Hove this last weekend, and the work, which started in 2014 with a very small group of ladies, goes on. The members of the Rye group have all got much more skilled in knowing exactly what is needed, and other church members contribute with balls of wool and things like the dignity bags for women sent out last year.
If you are a knitter and would like to know more, Sandra Lanigan can be contacted via St Mary’s church, Rye.
Photos: Sandra Lanigan