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How to use your craft skills to help others


15 February 2021

Give back to the community with these charitable craft initiatives


15 February 2021

  • Social practice
  • Textiles
  • Craft education
  • Craft and wellbeing

Photo: Vlada Karpovic

From knitting blankets for premature babies to sewing pillows for people affected by breast cancer, there are many brilliant ways crafters can offer their talent and time for good causes, with charities and communities across the country looking for volunteers. Here are some of the organisations you can help make a difference by using your hands, whether you’re an experienced maker or have picked up some new craft skills over lockdown.


  • Artist-designed knitting patterns for the CW+ #ScarfUp appeal

Knitting and crochet projects for charity

#ScarfUp – the Crafts Council is teaming up with CW+, the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to help people #ScarfUp and keep the chill out. There are nine knitting patterns for you to choose from, designed by renowned artists including Annie Morris, Denzel Forrester, and Supermundane. All scarves donated to CW+ will be used by patients in their hospitals suffering from respiratory illnesses like asthma, COPD, and those recovering from Covid-19.

The Big Knit – knit or crotchet mini wool hats for Innocent smoothie bottles to raise money for Age UK.

Octopus for a Preemie – become one of a team of UK volunteers who crochet and knit little octopuses and jellyfish to comfort babies who have entered the world a little earlier than expected.

The Naval Children’s Charity – you can help the organisation by knitting rabbits or penguins to send out with its free children’s books. There’s also a family set of dolls for children whose parents work in the Armed Forces, designed to help them adjust to periods of separation.

Made4aid – anyone can donate handmade art and craft items or supplies to be sold online, with all proceeds going to the relief work of Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).

Bonnie Babies – make and send premature clothing, blankets and burial outfits to hospitals, bereavement units, hospices, orphanages and special baby care units in the UK, and also to parents who need support.

The Donkey Sanctuary – knit and crochet woollen donkeys (or sew felt ones) to be sold by the Devon-based charity to raise funds and help boost donkey welfare standards around the world.

Loving Hands – knit, crochet and sew items for various charities, groups and individuals, from premature baby clothes to knee rugs and shoulder wraps for the elderly, or fiddle mats and muffs for dementia sufferers.

Knitted Knockers – connect with breast cancer survivors by knitting and crocheting breast protheses for women that have undergone a mastectomy or a lumpectomy (applications for those wishing to knit for the charity are currently suspended due to its recipients being classed as at risk from Covid-19).

Feel Better Friends – crochet dolls ‘stuffed with love and well wishes’ to be donated to children battling cancer and other illnesses.

Project Linus UK – volunteer to make quilts and blankets for sick, disabled or disadvantaged children. Donations of suitable patchwork fabrics and threads or help with fundraising to purchase fabrics and wadding are also welcome.

Newlife – pick up your needles to create a range of items to be sold at craft sales, from homewares to clothing, accessories and toys. Proceeds will be used to boost the Knit for Newlife fund, which helps the charity purchase essential specialist equipment for specific children.

Woolly Hugs – join an online community in providing knitted and crocheted blankets for a variety of causes, such as children affected by Chernobyl or breastfeeding units in the UK. Woolly Hugs also regularly runs craft sales to raise funds for itself, as well as donating a third of its profits to a chosen charity at Christmas.


Photo: Adonyi Gábor

Sewing projects for charity

Making for Charity – find ideas, resources and project advice to support charities through the production of craft items. Its current projects include a sewing drive for syringe driver bags, personal effects bags and comfort bags for Macmillan nurses and palliative care teams across the country.

Connection through Craft – create scrubs, face masks and other items for hospitals in the Cambridge area, as well as NHS and local charities.

Days for Girls – channel your sewing skills into making reusable menstrual health products for women in developing countries. The charity is US-based, but has several active chapters and teams across the UK that collect and co-ordinate donations.

Jen’s Friends – support a Facebook community by sewing heart-shaped pillows for women and men with breast cancer, designed to provide comfort after a mastectomy operation.

The Pachamama Project – join a growing network of volunteers around the UK to make reusable sanitary pads for refugees and help to end period poverty.

Little Dresses for Africa – sew dresses out of pillowcases to be sent to vulnerable children in Africa and beyond. The organisation has LFDA ambassadors across the globe to serve as a contact person in their country to make and receive dresses for distribution, including the UK.

Animal Rescue Cooperative Craft Guild – become part of a global community of makers creating custom rescue items such as hanging bags and crate beds for Australian animals in need (the guild also accepts knitted and crocheted items).


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