Knitting together a community
Community Spotlight on Newtown St Boswells
Fiona Macpherson – who we’re lucky to have in our Outside the Box team! – has been busy with more wonderful community-building ideas in Newtown St Boswells. Fiona brightened our week by telling us about her latest project, so we’re sharing it with you too. It’s a great example of how small scale grassroots projects can build community spirit and address local issues.
We hope you find it inspiring!
Knitting to grow flowers
Some older people in the area were looking for things to do to support the community. To create a fun way to collaborate, Fiona found a knitting pattern for Easter chicks and with kind donation from the local Cash and Carry got some creme eggs to put inside.
She’s working in partnership with Newtown In Bloom, who have a few knitters. They plan to sell the chicks and eggs for £2 each in the run up to Easter, if they can knit enough of them! The money will be going to Newtown In Bloom to buy flowers and bulbs for the village displays. Due to Covid they had to cancel their plant sales and income sources, so Fiona thought this would be a nice way to work with them and show some community spirit.
Community involvement
Just a day after posting the pattern, Fiona received a lovely message from a very supportive community member – her and her mum had made 10 chicks in 24 hours.
If anyone else wants to give it a go, here is the knitting pattern they used. You can also find other free patterns though a google search.
It’s also a great example of involving people with different talents to turn a good idea into reality. Fiona says she can’t knit – but her skills at helping community members feel connected made it possible!
She also has a quiz and a Covid-safe outdoor chick trail for families planned for the Spring. What fun, fantastical, friendly projects and solutions are coming up in your local area? Get in touch with us on Twitter or email admin@otbds.org to let us know!