Sheffield Hospitals Charity has called for local people to support their Crafting for Good initiative, in order to provide hospital patients with handmade gifts. The scheme, introduced for Dementia Awareness Week, asks crafters for small gifts “from bonding hearts…to Forget-Me-Nots” to be given to patients with dementia.
In a post released on social media earlier this week, the charity introduced their “new Crafting for Good page this #DementiaAwarenessWeek, where you can find knitting, crochet and stitching patterns…from friendly octopi, to beautiful blankets to keep busy hands occupied, the amazing things you can create can make a real difference”.
Sheffield Hospitals Charity is an organisation which provides funding to some of Sheffield’s Teaching Hospitals and NHS providers helping to support a wide variety of care, from midwifery services to palliative care in our city. Formed in 1997, the charity supports not only patients themselves, but also their families, carers and crucially, the NHS staff who care for them. The charity’s mission is to cover costs that the NHS in unable to, enhancing care and facilitating life-changing research programmes.
The Crafting for Good page provides templates and instructional tutorials on some of the crafts donors can create, as well as guidelines, featuring safety requirements as well as information about how each craft, material or colour combination is beneficial to those with dementia, helping crafters to tailor their creations. Donations can then be mailed to the charity or can be dropped off by arrangement, where they will be provided to patients, with creators encouraged to leave contact information so they can receive updates on how their crafts have proved beneficial to local patients.
As the rates of dementia prevalence in the U.K. are continuing to rise, this Dementia Awareness Week, Sheffield Hospitals Charity is seeking to improve the quality of patients’ experiences by reaching out to local communities, with several student societies already promoting the call. With exams sweeping in and the summer approaching, now is a prime time to create something crafty for local people benefiting from the charity’s work.
More information, patterns & guidelines for Sheffield Hospitals Charity’s Crafting for Good initative can be found here
