Lisburn women get crafty for charity

The crochet group, led by Isobel Spence, was formed last year through Lisburn’s University of the Third Age.

The group, which meets every Friday, have been learning and developing their crocheting skills and wanted to put their new-found abilities to good use.

They decided to create blankets which were recently presented to Blytheswood Care in Lisburn, a Christian charity which helps projects in countries throughout the world, including India, Serbia and Romania.

Isobel, who leads the group and helps the women hone their skills, used to volunteer with the charity at their shop on the Saintfield Road. When the group decided to create blankets, she suggested they be donated to the cause which is close to her heart.

The women each crocheted squares, which Isobel joined together to make four blankets that have now been handed over to the charity and will soon be making their way to Romania.

The blankets will be part of a shipment going to Jubilee House in Bolintin, just outside Bucharest. Jubilee House is a women’s refuge which cares for women who have special needs. The refuge has been supported by Blytheswood Care for the past two years, with teams going out to complete building work during the summers of 2010 and 2011.

“I would like to thank the women in the group for all their hard work,” said Isobel. “I was thrilled with the end result and the blankets are a great demonstration of the skills the women have learnt over the last year.

“I am so proud of all of them and am so pleased that our blankets will be going to such a good cause. We hope this will be just the start of our charitable efforts,” she added.

Martine Shanley from Blytheswood Care thanked the group for their donation. “We were so delighted,” she said. “The blankets were absolutely beautiful and the work that had gone into them was out of this world.”

Martine explained that Blytheswood Care has many ongoing projects and sends out aid to various countries several times throughout the year.

If you would like to make a donation to the charity or find out more about their work, contact Blytheswood Care, 29 Saintfield Road, Lisburn on 9260 2155.

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