Simply Knitting - UK (2020-05)

KNITTER’S WORLD

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Theprojecthelpedraise

thefestivespiritwithin

the local community

Oneofthe 850 angels

knittedbyTheWrexham

Salvation Army

CaptainIanDavisand

KarenEdwardsofthe

Wrexham Salvation Army

CaptainsSandyandIanDavisof

The Wrexham Salvation Army

Duetothesuccess,the

teamareplanningtoruna

similar project in 2020

Theteamwithjust

someofthehundreds

of knitted angels

K

nittingcanbringjoytopeople’slivesinsomanyunexpectedways.Onefine

exampleofthiswasdonebytheteamatTheSalvationArmyinWrexham,who

co-ordinateda massknitprojectwhichfirststartedbackinthespringof2019.The

projectsawmembersoftheirchurchandcommunitycentre,alongwithmembersofother

churchesinthetown,takeupthechallengeofmakinghundredsoflittleknitted‘angels’to

spreadaroundWrexham.Allinthehopeofgivingcomforttothelocalcommunity ahead of the

festiveseason,whichcanbea lonelyandisolatingtimeofyearforsome.

“Wedesigneda labeltoattachtoeachoftheangelsthathada Christmasblessinganda

messageofhope,”explainsKarenEdwards,whoworksasCommunityManagerandisbased

atthecommunitycentreand,hugelyimportant,regionalSalvationArmychurchinWrexham.

“Italsohada linktoa Facebookpagethatwecreated.WhenpeopleloggedontoFacebook,

theywereabletoletusknowwheretheyhadfound the angels, but more importantly, where

theycouldaccesssupportfromusif needed.”

TheideaoriginallycamefromoneofKaren’scolleagueswhohaddoneit thepreviousyear

inCarlisle.“Asa churchandcharity,welikedhowit oereda wayofreachingouttothelocal

community and thought we would give it a try,” says Karen. “You never know what someone is

goingthroughandwhentheymightneeda littleencouragementtoseethatthereishope,

evenatthetoughestoftimes.”Christmascanbea particularlydiculttimeformanyand

bytyingtheangelstokeypartsofthetown,it meantthatthecharitycouldreachpeople

whomightotherwisehavebeenisolatedandvulnerable,orthosethatjustwanttoenjoy

a bitoffestivecheerwithinthecommunity.“Ifsomeonewasinneed,wehopedthatthey

wouldfindcomfortintheangelsandknowwherewearetooerhelpandsupport,comforted

intheknowledgethatsomeoneisalwaysthereandwillingtolisten,”Karenexplains.

Theyhada teamofpeopleknittingthroughouttheyear,aswellasotherswhohelped

withthedesignandcreationofthelabels.Thechurchmemberssharedlunchtogetherone

SundayinNovember,wheretheyattachedthelabelsandgotthemreadytogo.Whenthis

projectoriginallystartedtherewasthena teamofonly 15 peoplewhometat7amonthelast

FridayofNovember.Theteamthenheadedoutintothetowncentretotietheangelsina

varietyofplacessothattheycouldbefoundasthetown woke up and started the day. In the

enda incredibletotalof 850 angelswereknitted.

Fortunately,allthehardworkanddedicationreallydidpayofortheteam.Theoverall

reactionwasbiggerthantheteamcouldeverhaveexpected– thepublicreallyseemed

toembracetheidea,leavinglotsoflovelymessagesontheFacebookpage.Thispositive

feedbackhasencouragedtheteamforfutureprojects.Onepersonwrote:“Thankyou!

Whata lovelyideaandespeciallyonwhatissucha busyshoppingdaytoday,thisactof

kindnessremindsusofwhatChristmasisallabout.”Whileanothercommented:“How

beautifularethese?JustwhenI neededa bitofhope,I foundthis,sothankyou.”

“Weweresopleasedwiththewaytheprojectwentthisyear,andhavebeentalking

aboutwhatwemaydonext,”Karenenthusiastically tells us. “However, we would not want

tospoilanysurprises,sowatchthisspace!”

Find out more on the team’s Facebook page @WrexhamChristmasAngels

TheSalvationArmyinWrexhamtellusaboutthe

successoftheirfestiveknittingproject,which

reaches out to those in who are vulnerable

Written by Colette Earley

Theknittedangelsare

dottedaboutwhere

anybody can pick one up

Anyonecanfindand

take a knitted angel

“We designed a label to

attach to the angels that

had a message of hope”

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