I’ve set up the Grimsby pod of Blankets for the homeless, based on the original idea by Jayne Roper who has set up Blankets for the homeless – HQ.
There’s now pods all over the country and I’d seen that there were a couple nearby to me and they were stacked out with the amount of work that was coming their way. I host a free weekly Crochet, Knit and Stitch session at Welholme Works with lots of lovely locals and I knew that there’d be plenty of people who wanted to help the cause. Blankets are a total labour of love, so the idea is that anyone can contribute by knitting or crocheting a 6 inch square. They’re then sent or dropped off to me and then between us we get them joined and edged into full blankets.
I know so many people who can knit and crochet but don’t necessarily have anyone to make for. Having a project like this gives people a really positive end result to the amount of time and effort they put into their craft.
The humble granny square is the first thing I learnt to make when I started to crochet over 7 years ago. The amount of love and time that goes into each and every blanket is huge and the fact that the blankets are then going to those who really need them makes them even more special
So far we’ve donated 3 full blankets to Harbour Place in Grimsby, along with 5 hats and 2 scarves. We’re also accepting knitted and crochet winter woollies as they are also in high demand by local shelters and refuges.
How can you help?
Knit or crochet 6 inch squares that we can then combine to create full blankets. If you want to make a full blanket for us to distribute then that’s obviously amazing! We’re also accepting hats, gloves and scarves.
I’ve set up a Facebook group that you can join if you’d like to help us with the work that we are doing. In the group you’ll be kept up to date with donations that we make and where to. I’ll also make sure that there are patterns and tutorials in there to help you if you’d like to use them to work from. If you’re local to Grimsby then you’d be very welcome to attend any of my free weekly drop in sessions to help with joining or making squares – if you can’t attend the sessions and would still like to help then please just get in touch. The more hands on board, the better!
Most recently we were contacted by Roy of Grimsby who came to us with 192 squares that he and his wife had crocheted which we can create 3 entire blankets from! Roy’s Dad had taught him to crochet as a child and he’s now taught his wife Karen! If you want to get involved with this or any similar projects but don’t know how to crochet then check out the dates here for my Granny Square crochet workshops – perfect for total beginners.
If you would like to contribute anything at all to help, whether it’s squares or supplies then please get in touch for more details. Any completed squares can be dropped off or posted to:
You can find out more about my Crochet Club sessions here
This post was written by Gemma
