Volunteer knitters have helped to raise £2,150 for unpaid carers in Harrogate by selling hand-made Christmas decorations.
More than 30 knitters from across Yorkshire and as far away as France sent more than 1,200 decorations to Carers’ Resource, which sold them for £2 each across 28 outlets.
The charity’s events and fundraising co-ordinator Anne Wells has now collected and counted all the money. She said:
It’s the fourth year we’ve sold these and the knitters and sales outlets across our whole patch have done an amazing job to achieve this total, as well as raise our profile as a local charity.
We’d like to thank everyone who helped, including Noir hairdresser, Haywra Hair & Beauty and The Harrogate Hair & Beauty Clinic, which are all in Harrogate, plus Feastfield Medical Centre, in Pateley Bridge, and osteopath Kathryn Elliott, in Knaresborough.
Enfield WI in Middlesex knits more than 100 decorations every year. This came about after a relative of a volunteer came along to a carers’ knitting group a few years ago and saw for herself the important work we do with carers. The knitting group itself also made 120.
We got just short of 170 decorations from France, where a staff member’s relative lives. She knits them with friends then posts them, which is amazing.
The knitters are already working hard on Easter chicks and this fantastic fundraising effort means we can send unpaid carers on trips and host peer-to-peer support groups to give carers a break. Some of our services receive funding but trips and groups are something we simply can’t afford without fundraising and generous donations.
An unpaid carer is anyone who provides help and support to a friend, neighbour or relative who could not otherwise manage because of frailty, illness or disability.
Over the Christmas period Carers’ Resource also received donations of toys, gifts, food hampers and vouchers, which meant presents were given to all of the 300 young carers the charity is in contact with in the Harrogate district. More than 100 hampers of food and treats were also given to the children’s families.
The charity’s young carer worker Hettie Flynn said:
We were given vouchers for restaurants and outings, craft sets and other gifts that we can use throughout the year to help us support local young carers.
The gifts we already gave out caused great excitement to the children. Some parents were so overwhelmed with the hampers that there were tears and appreciative hugs for our staff and volunteers.
