Craft Hope Project 12 - Orphan Outreach

Have you heard of Craft Hope?  It's the most wonderful, inspiring website that organises craft projects for charity.  You may remember I made some granny squares for Crochet a Rainbow earlier this year, and it felt so good to use my Knotty Arts towards a good cause that I promised myself I'd try and do it more often.  I'm off to a good start: look what I'm sending off to the States today:

Friendship bracelets!  These are for Craft Hope's Project 12: Orphan Outreach.  A church group from Grand Rapids, Michigan is heading out to Russia, to St Petersburg's Crisis Centre, which is a drop-in centre where orphaned children and teenagers can go for emotional support, company, and also to learn essential living skills for when they leave the orphanage system and have to make their own way in the world.  The group are taking over as many friendship bracelets as they can, just as a gesture to let these kids know that someone is thinking of them.

There are approximately 750, 000 orphans in the orphanage system in Russia, and who knows how many others living on the streets (estimates range up to hundreds of thousands).  How about this: in Russia, around 60% of female orphans become prostitutes, and about 70% of male orphans become criminals.  Heartbreaking.  There are loads more statistics on the website, so please do click if you want to learn more.

I am not a church-goer, and I know this is being run by a church group, but I don't care in the least, and I hope it doesn't put any of you off in case you are tempted to join in (I know some people are sensitive about that sort of thing).  It's such an easy thing to do - I knocked about 20 of these out in one evening, and I didn't have to buy any new materials, I just used up some bits and bobs from my ribbon and yarn stashes - but I hope that whoever receives one of my bracelets will know that I sent it with lots of love, and that I really want good things to happen for them.

The Crafty Charity doesn't stop there!  Closer to home, I am hoping to take part in the Big Knit-In at Bath Recreation Grounds, as part of the Bath Fringe festival.  We'll be knitting mats out of plastic carrier bags, which will then be auctioned off for The Genesis Trust - a local charity which helps socially vulnerable people: homelessness, mental illness, addiction, you name it.  Bath may be a fairly posh city but it has its share of unlucky people as well, so I hope it will be a jolly good fun event (we're supposed to bring a picnic!) where I can meet some more local knitters and learn more about the Trust and what they do.

I know Rachel over at Smile and Wave is making pillow case dresses to send to children in Haiti - this looks like another easy project, but I just don't think I'll have time to make them up and get them shipped to the USA in time for the deadline (1st June).  Maybe some of my readers on the other side of the pond would like to get involved?

Are you a Crafty Blogger?  Have you ever done a project for charity?  (I know Martha did a naughty one!)  I would love to find out about more (particularly UK-based), there are SO many out there!