Caerphilly woman’s pride as baskets get NATO showcase

A Caerphilly woman has spoken of her pride after the baskets she makes were given to world leaders at the recent NATO summit in Newport.

Sarah Hatton, 37, of Hendredenny, started willow weaving in 2008 and just six years after taking up the craft, her creations were part of a gift pack of Welsh goods given to the world’s top politicians.

Sarah, who works as an IT manager in Cardiff, said: “In July I received an email from the Foreign and Commonwealth office asking if I’d like the opportunity to make 70 gift hamper baskets that would contain Welsh gifts and be presented to the world leaders at the NATO summit in Newport.

“I received the go ahead from the Foreign Office and also Number Ten in August, but realised I couldn’t do it alone so asked my basket weaving friends Melanie Bastier from Out to Learn Willow in Ogmore and Sarah Lart from Seren Willow in Cardiff to help me.

“Mel also asked family and friends to help out. Each basket was 16 inches long by 14 inches wide by ten inches high and took 200 rods of willow to make, so 14,000 rods of willow in all 70 baskets.

“They started off taking 6 hours to make but by the end thy tool between three to four hours. The baskets I made contained willow grown by myself.”

Alongside her day job in IT, the talented craftswoman runs her own business, Hatton Willow, which she started in 2011. She also grows her own willow in a small field behind Hendredenny.

Sarah added: “We delivered the baskets to the Celtic Manor on the August 31. We were then contacted by the Number Ten press office to attend the Celtic Manor on September 3 to be shown around with all the other suppliers to see what we had contributed to.

“It was quite a surreal experience because there were military personnel everywhere. We were shown into the leaders’ meeting room which was just amazing and then they announced we were going to have a meet and greet with Prime Minister David Cameron.

“Mr Cameron spoke to us each individually and told us the event wouldn’t have been possible without contributions like ours.

“We are all really proud to have been asked to contribute to this event and I still can’t believe that my baskets, made in Caerphilly, have gone all around the world. I think this has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”