Are you a wonder with wood? Then a Warboys-based crafting group that raises thousands of pounds to help disabled and terminally children in Cambridgeshire would like to hear from you!
The De Ramsay Court Charity Craft Group has raised more than £8,500 for Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children – and wants to celebrate its fifth consecutive fundraising year by breaking the £10,000 barrier. Every single penny raised is used to provide specialist equipment for children in the county. Last year alone the group collected £2,253, which helped five Cambridgeshire families, providing a wheelchair, safety travel bed, special-needs car seat and two specialist seats for home use.
The crafting group, led by Wendy Thorpe, has set itself a £2,000 target for 2017. Wendy said: “We are a group of 20 who meet every Wednesday afternoon between 1pm and 4pm at De Ramsay Court in Warboys. We love a good laugh and would welcome anyone who is interested in joining us to pop along and meet us one Wednesday afternoon.
“At the moment our members focus on crafts like knitting, crocheting, felting, sewing and card making – but we would particularly like to hear from anyone with woodworking skills. If you can hammer together a hedgehog house or build a bird box, for instance, we would love it if you could get in touch.”
The group has a permanent stall at De Ramsay Court and also sells its crafts through a series of local events. Wendy added: “Any donations of unwanted wood would also be welcome – we can put it to a very good use.”
Wendy added: “As well as selling our craftwork we hold regular fundraising activities within the group and also organise social events. The response from crafters and also those who buy our crafts has been fantastic. Local people are very supportive of us because they know that their money is helping local children – that has attracted a lot of interest and created a good community spirit.”
Newlife is the UK’s largest charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness and has helped 126 under-19s in Cambridgeshire, with equipment totalling £147,604. For more information about how the charity supports local families, go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/cambridgeshire. Right now, Newlife is working with a further four families in the county.
Anyone interested in either joining Wendy’s group on a regular basis or helping with occasional woodwork donations can contact her on 07933 151 861.
Pictured: Wendy Thorpe
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newlifethecharity/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/newlifethecharity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Newlifethecharity
