Simply Knitting - UK (2021-04)

KNITTER’S WORLD

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Alison’s drive
was to keep
the community
connected

A plaque was placed

next to the tree to

explain its significance

Many excited knitters,

crocheters and novice

crafters took part

The Tree of

Hope, before

and after yarn

bombing

Each carefully knitted

item was added securely

to the Tree of Hope

An overwhelming

number of yarny

items were received

The project was originally

inspired from the success

of a similar one in 2019

From snails to

toadstools, knitters

created an arry of

colourful knits

T

he past year has brought a sense of community and togetherness to

the world, particularly within the crafting community. One such heart-

warming project is the Tree of Hope, created by Duston Parish Council

and their surrounding community.

The Tree of Hope is the culmination of a project created during lockdown last

year. Made up of individual components, lovingly crafted by many local residents

of Duston, Northampton, it also serves to represent and celebrate the wonderful

community who pulled together and remained strong during challenging times.

“It is intended to symbolise strength and renewed hope for the future,” Alison

Grantham, Community Development Manager for Duston Parish Council tells us.

The project was inspired by the response from the community to the Parish’s

appeal to knit poppies back in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of World War 1. “In

2019, we asked them to knit flowers for our East Midlands in Bloom entry which were

displayed on railings around the village. Our aim was to come up with a project that

would keep our community feeling connected and engaged,” explains Alison. “With

a national lockdown and many people shielding, there was no option to hold events;

knitting and crocheting was something that they could do from the safety of their

homes and add to the ones we already had and so was a perfect solution.”

Alison and her team contacted previous volunteer knitters, put the idea out on social

media and mail-dropped to local residents. “All we asked was for their creations to be as

bright and as bold as possible; they could choose to make flowers, rainbows, butterflies,

bees etc. We even had hedgehogs, worms, toadstools and snails,” says Alison. At that

stage, the Parish wasn’t sure how they were going to display them and how many they

would get, but by June they had started to flood in. “We began to attach them to garden

mesh and the project just grew from there,” Alison says.

Bags of flowers were dropped off by villagers, young and old, and every age in between.

The local guide groups got involved as did residents of the care homes in the village. “Some

people who couldn’t knit anymore gave their knitting needles, spare wool and buttons to

their friends and neighbours to use,” Alison tells us. “Which was lovely as it meant they had

still contributed to the project. It was a real team effort.”

Choosing which tree to decorate was the easiest part. “There was a tall stump of a tree

that had been chopped down some years back,” says Alison. “We had been looking at

options to turn it into a piece of art for the village – this seemed a perfect fit.”

The response has been phenomenal. During installation, people beeped their horns

as they drove past and stopped to say how they had been bringing their grandchildren

to see it and sending pictures to family overseas. “A local blogger pulled up and did

an on the spot interview for her Instagram, which had 4,200 views,” says Alison. “Our

Facebook posts have reached over 50,000 people and it has been picked up by the local

papers, radio stations and BBC online.”

The overall aim of the project was to create something that would make people

smile. “Any community project is special, but to create something so beautiful out

of pretty dark times for people was extraordinary,” says Alison. “Hopefully it portrays

everything that a Tree of Hope symbolises.”

For more on this brilliant project visit http://www.duston-pc.gov.uk

Written by Colette Earley

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“To create something

beautiful out of dark

times was extraordinary”

Despite the recent challenging months, Alison

Grantham tells us all about a creative community

project that managed to connect and inspire...