We hope you enjoy this inspiring story about how a beautiful community project gave a resident a sense of purpose and pride in her handywork.
‘Four years ago, ‘Brenda’, a resident of Timbrebongie House in NSW, had failing eyesight and was becoming very restricted in what she could do. Life was getting very boring and she was continually using the buzzer wanting staff to do things for her. As a very new A.O, I was given the job of ‘finding something for Brenda to do.’ After having a chat with her about what she used to do and what she liked, we decided to try some crocheting. That was not a great success, so we tried knitting. A pattern was found for bed socks using small knitted squares, which were then sewn together. That was a great success and many squares were produced by Brenda and sewn up by some one else. However, you can only have so many bed socks.
In June 2005, the local ABC radio ran a program called ‘Drop in Stitches’ that involved knitting 25cm squares from 8ply wool to give to and organisation called, ‘Wrap with Love.’ They made these squares up into ‘Wraps’ for distribution around the world for the needy. I approached Brenda to see if she was willing to tackle the bigger square, and to knit lots of them for a good cause. Yes! She thought this would be a very good project.
By July 2006, Brenda had completed over 100 squares, and again in 2007, another 100 + squares. To help make the knitting of the squares more interesting, I asked Brenda if she would like to knit in lengths, with four lengths making up one ‘Wrap.’ I had residents who had previously been good sewers but because of their dementia had lost the initiative to look for sewing to occupy them. Gathering these residents into a group to sew the lengths together gave them a great sense of accomplishment. Seeing the completed article has spurred other residents to take part in knitting more for next year with enthusiasm. In 2008, we have five completed ‘Wraps’ to give to ‘Wrap with Love.’ The five residents involved proudly gathered to have their photo taken draped with the ‘Wraps’.
Sandra Edmunds A. O
Timbrebongie House Inc. NSW
Услуги – Украина
