A church hall in Cwmbran was packed yesterday afternoon for a charity crochet day to raise money for Leukaemia Care.
The event was held at Richmond Road Baptist Church in Pontnewydd and saw around 35 people, some experienced crocheters and some newbies, get together for a day of laughs and creativity.
Sarah Searle, a trustee of the charity and member of the church, told Cwmbran Life: “We’re doing a charity day to learn to crochet.
“I started off by running a marathon for them [the charity] and then fundraising for them, and that’s how we sort of got involved, me and my husband.
‘Griffithstown Harriers’
“Ever since, we’ve been trying to find different ways of raising money rather than necessarily running. So there’s various people here from Griffithstown Harriers that I know, some of whom can crochet.
“People have just paid like a donation. We’ve provided the wool, the hooks and then we’ve got three people going around [Catherine Spencer, Katherine Walsh and Chris Donne) and helping people start off. Some people are using YouTube videos as well.
“There are also some other people who can crochet, and they’re helping the person next to them, but that’s been one of the really lovely things, people helping each other. There’s been a lot of laughs and people asking when the next one is.
‘All in it together’
“Everybody seems to be having fun. Everybody’s made something. There’s been some creative creations. The idea was that we [each] made a granny square and then sew the granny squares together as a representation of what we’ve created today and the fact that we’re all in it together and even if we make good squares or bad squares, you can have good days and bad days with leukaemia and it shows you’ve got everyone covered under the blanket.
“I think there are people here whose lives have been affected by leukaemia. There’s definitely people where its helping their mental health as it’s quite a relaxing thing to do.
‘Reconnecting’
“There’s also been quite a few people who didn’t know their friends were coming and realised once they got here, people reconnecting from years ago.”
Sarah thanked the church for allowing them to use the hall for free. The day had already raised over £340 by the time I left, taking two cupcakes with me 🙂