Nearly 120 knitted blankets donated to those in need this Christmas thanks to volunteer efforts

Nearly 120 knitted blankets have been donated to people in need this Christmas thanks to the efforts of volunteers over the past 12 months.

Throughout 2024, volunteer knitters spent a combined 3,000 hours of their own free time knitting crocheted squares, which were then sewn together to make the blankets.

Each blanket is made from 25 crocheted squares – with each square taking around an hour to knit. It then takes a further five hours to crochet the squares together to make a blanket.

Volunteers then sort the squares into batches for crocheting, before labelling and packing the blankets.

The annual project, which started in 2020, is run by Caerphilly Miners’ Centre – the community hub which opened in 2015 on the site of the former Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital.

The scheme started as a way to keep people connected during the Covid pandemic and has continued long after the lifting of restrictions.

A special ceremony was held at the miners’ centre on November 29, where the blankets were handed over to a variety of charities and organisations supporting people in need.

Among the organisations to receive blankets were Caerphilly-based domestic abuse and homelessness charity Llamau, and the council’s Caerphilly Cares team.

Blankets were also received by The Parent Network, Caerphilly Uniform Exchange, the National Youth Advocacy Service, Caerphilly Foodbank, and the Plas Hyfryd extra care scheme.

Caerphilly Senedd Member Hefin David presented the blankets to these organisations on behalf of Caerphilly Miners’ Centre.

The Labour MS praised the volunteers behind the initiative, who he described as “the fabric of the community”, and said: “Those receiving the blankets are very worthy charities.

“It really is a fantastic project and it’s a pleasure every year to be here to present the blankets and make sure our community knows exactly what’s going on here.”

Who will be receiving the blankets?

Lisa Carlsen, of Llamau, explained how the blankets given to the charity will help them support women and children fleeing domestic violence.

“We have been very privileged to actually be giving out these blankets to clients, who sometimes come in to us in just their pyjamas, so I don’t think you can take away the comfort that something homely and homemade makes. It really is overwhelming and really moving.

“It makes a huge difference to the women and families we are supporting.”

Ms Carlsen continued: “When women flee they’re usually changing boroughs, they’re very disorientated, so it’s just comforting to have the touch and feel of something homely and homemade, and we feel it’s a real welcome into refuge, because everything is so overwhelming for them at that precise time.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Hyde, manager of Caerphilly Foodbank, explained how the blankets will be used as part of his charity’s Christmas hampers.

“Each Christmas we give hampers to families and individuals who are feeling a tight pinch and feeling a bit of hardship and are struggling,” said Ryan.

“The one age group that we feed more than any other in Caerphilly is children aged five to 11, which breaks my heart. So the blankets are going to be going as part of our Christmas appeal and hampers to families.”

Also given blankets was Amber Pritchard, project worker at the National Youth Advocacy Service. She explained how much the donated blankets will mean for the people, aged 25 and younger, that her organisation supports.

“The people we work with are care-experienced young people, and new parents and expecting parents who have been through the care system, and their children are subject to social services involvement,” explained Amber.

“We advocate for them and their views, wishes and feelings. We also do the support work side of things and we help them with their life skills and things like that.

“These blankets are going to mean so much to them because the majority of these young people are very vulnerable and they come from poorer backgrounds.”

‘No end to the project’

While a year of hard work is over, and the blankets have been donated to those who need them, there is “no end to the project” – with the knitting already underway ahead of 2025’s Christmas donations.

Pauline Elcock, a volunteer behind the scheme, said: There’s an awful lot of hours that’s gone into making just one blanket, let alone more than 100 blankets. Hopefully the people who get them will appreciate them and they will keep them warm for Christmas.”

Discussing the volunteer effort that’s gone into making the donations, Pauline said: “We’ve had people who’ve sent in rectangles from Aberystwyth and north Wales, while one lady attached a little note to say that her sister had been knitting them and they’d come from the Falkland Islands, which I think is amazing.

“I don’t know of any coming from further away than the Falkland Islands, but I think that’s pretty good going.”

Explaining what comes next, Pauline said: “I suppose there’s no end to the project.

“Even though we have the presentation in November just before Christmas, there’s no end because we’ll start towards next year’s blankets.

“We’ve got a cupboard full of rectangles that haven’t been crocheted together yet, so it’ll just start up again for next year.”

She continued: “The people who take part in it love doing it because they know that their blankets are going to somebody to keep them warm and cheer them up. Somebody said to me today it’s the only present that some people get. If they think that people have knitted them for them especially, it’s lovely.”