Our members have been making quilts and other sewing, knitted and crocheted items for charity for many years. Below are a few of the charities that Mimram and its members are supporting.
QUEEN VICTORIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (QVM), WELWYN
Our local charity, the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital (QVM), as part of the Herts Community NHS Trust’s Intermediate Care Team, caters for patients who need rehabilitation following a stay in an acute hospital.
The usual stay is up to six weeks during which the staff strive to help patients reach their potential and maximise their independence. Patients are supported who have had a stroke, medical, surgical or orthopaedic illness.
The hospital is currently in need of twiddle muffs and other fidget toys like marble mazes and fidget blankets.
MARBLE MAZES
The Marble Maze is made of tactile soft fleece and a see though material like organza and contains a marble which can be pushed around the inside the "maze" sewn into the fabric. It is a dementia-friendly game, designed to challenge coordination and dexterity.
To access the instructions for making the marble mazes above, press here.
To print the pattern, press on the title below each drawing.
TWIDDLE MUFFS
The knitted muffs with items attached are used to keep dementia patients hands active and busy. People with dementia often have restless hands and like to have something to keep their hands occupied. A twiddle muff provides aa wonderful source of visual, tactile and sensory stimulation and keeps hands snug and warm at the same time.
If you like to donate and make a twiddle muff or materials, please give them to Lily or drop them off at the Danesbusy Appeal Charity shop in Welwyn High Street or at the reception area of the Danesbury Neurological Centre or the QVM Hospital, School Lane, Welwyn.
For instructions on how to make a twiddle muff press here.
Having made a few, we recommend that you decorate the twiddle muff before you sew the muff together. Also that you use a small piece of material or felt on the wrong side of the muff to secure your decorations.
Here are some twiddle muffs we made:
PROJECT LINUS UK
https://projectlinusuk.org.uk/
Project Linus UK’s mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed by donating gifts of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets, lovingly made by UK volunteer knitters and quilters.
Project Linus began in America in 1995 when Karen Loucks saw a newspaper article showing how much a comfort blanket had helped a child cancer victim. She decided to organise blankets for her local children’s cancer unit and started spreading the word. Since that time several million blankets and quilts have been delivered worldwide. The organisation began in the UK in March 2000 as a result of a Birmingham quilter’s desire to help children in need. They now have a large network of volunteers across the UK who donate their time to collect and distribute the blankets and quilts made by volunteers.
Guidelines for making Linus quilts and sizes can be found here
Here are some quilts we made:
MUMMY’S STAR
Every day, in the UK, two women are diagnosed with cancer in and around their pregnancy. Mummy’s Star is here to support them through diagnosis, pregnancy, birth, loss and beyond.
Mummy’s Star supports women who receive a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy and up to twelve months after the birth of their baby.
As part of the support services that Mymmy’s Star offer, care packages are sent to mums when they need a boost during treatment, after surgery or at the birth of their baby. Gifts include patchwork mats, blankets, cancer friendly beauty products and chocolates. They are gratefully received and reassure mums that people are thinking of them.
The recommended size for a patchwork mat is around 30” square.
Here are some of the quilts we made.
Our members also support a number of other charities, including:
MORSBAGS
Morsbags are reusable fabric bags, to be used instead of single use plastic ones.
Their website includes a free pattern and a video on how to make a bag.
QUILTS FOR CARE LEAVERS
The aim of this Charity is to provide ‘Quilted Hugs’ o care leavers aged between 16 and 25 who are living independently after their time in the local authority care system.
Why Hugs?
Each year more than 11,000 young people over the age of 16 leave the care system and move out into the world with limited support and few possessions. The project was inspired by the poet and recent chancellor of the University of Manchester, Lemn Sissay OBE, who, at the age of 12, returned to local authority care from the long-term foster placement he had been in since he was a baby. Founder, Maggie Lloyd-Jones, was inspired to set up Quilts for Care Leavers to make ‘quilted hugs’ for young people leaving local authority care after hearing Lemn tell an audience that what he had really wanted during that time, was a hug.
Knowing the comfort a quilt can bring Maggie gathered a team together in 2018 to make 120 quilts to be offered to Care Leavers at Christmas Day Dinners run by Gold from the Stone, the charity initiated by Lemn. In 2022 Quilts for Care Leavers provided around 1000 quilts to over 20 dinners and outreach programmes. Now they are increasing their reach by offering quilts throughout the year via Local Authority care teams, universities and colleges and charities supporting young care leavers.
For quilt sizes, patterns, etc, see:
https://www.q4cl.org.uk/quilts
BEADS OF COURAGE
Beads of Courage UK is helping to support 13.5K children and their families across the UK, through some of the toughest times in their lives. This special programme benefits all children with a serious chronic or life-threatening condition and sifted the focus from treatment to beads. It gave children a non scary, tangible means to communicate with their peers about what it is they have been been through and continue to go through, and it opened up lines of communication and broke down barriers of illness though lack of knowledge.
Instructions for making bead bags can be found via the link below:
https://beadsofcourageuk.org/bag-instructions/
CATHETER BAGS
Catheter bags would be welcomed by our local hospice. Click here for a pattern.
SYRINGE DRIVER BAGS
Syringe Driver Bags would again be welcomed by our local hospice. Jude from Just Jude Designs has a tutorial on how to make these on her website, https://justjude-designs.com/syringe-driver-bags-tutorial/
Stacey Lee has free patterns for donation quilts: