Glendale aged care residents knitting for a good cause

Bolton Clarke Glendale aged care residents have been putting their knitting needles to good use donating handcrafted items to local charities.

After spending years making blankets, beanies and scarves for their families, the grandmothers and great grandmothers decided it was time to put their busy hands to work for an even better cause – the Werribee Ladies for Kids Auxiliary.

Leading the group within Glendale aged care is resident Lil who started what members have humorously called the “Not Dead Yet Knitting Group” at the home “completely by accident”.

“I was a part of the Auxiliary group before I came into aged care and still go to the meetings as it’s right next door to Glendale,” Lil said.

“When I moved in, a few of the ladies here noticed that I was knitting a lot and said that they knit but have no one to make things for now that their families had plenty of their handmade items.

“They were curious about who I was knitting for, so I explained to them and they were onboard straight away.”

From that initial conversation, Lil was able to get over 20 residents aged from their late 60s to late 90s involved meeting every Thursday afternoon.

“For some residents, they have been knitting from their rooms and send the squares down to us but it has encouraged a lot of residents to come down once a week and sit and talk together while we knit.

“We actually found out that some people lived in the same district or their families knew each other so it’s lovely to get people chatting.”

The ladies have less than six months of knitting as a group under their belt but have already donated hundreds of squares to be made into blankets or small items like children’s booties.

“We started by all knitting squares and our first donation was made into a large blanket which was raffled off and the money was given to the Women and Children’s Hospital.

“That was about 100 squares and I know there are about six or seven blankets being made now as we speak.

“A lot of the ladies have expressed how pleased they are to be a part of this group and making something for a cause.”