KNITTERS have been busy making colourful creations to help refugee children and people with dementia and are encouraging others to get involved.

The Knitting on the Edge group, part of the wider Tavistock Edge festival which takes place in July, held a meeting to decide what projects they were going to initiate this year and are now on the look our for people who knit, crotchet at any level to join in and have some fun.

A wool amnesty was started in January, where people could donate any spare wool, which will be used to create twiddlemuffs for dementia sufferers at Derriford Hospital and Izzy Dolls for refugee children. As well as making the pieces for the causes, the Knitting on the Edge group also plans to decorate Tavistock with woolly window displays during the main Edge festival, similar to last year.

The group has already been making twiddlemuffs, after a strong relationship was made with Sarah Corner, ward manager of the Hembury Ward at Derriford Hospital and more than 50 have been passed on to individual patients in need.

The twiddlemuffs help to calm patients down as those with dementia often become agitated and distressed.

Val Sharpe, from the knitting group, said: ’The twiddlemuffs are really simple to make and really fun to decorate. They are warm and cosy and are made from a double-skinned tube of stocking stitch in mutli-colours and textures — whatever is to hand — and then decorated with a variety of buttons, ribbons, pom poms, bells, shells or anything else for people to handle and twiddle with.

’They are given to patients to take home so there is an ongoing need for more. Many NHS Trusts are using hand made twiddlemuffs and our pattern is actually from Mid Yorks NHS Trust.’

The Izzy dolls are colourful, little dolls, about six inches high and again are easy to knit or crochet. Hundreds have already been sent to refugee children in Turkey, which has the biggest refugee camps in the world.

Lesley Dersley, also from the group, said: ’The idea comes from a Canadian soldier who was so distressed at the devastation he witnessed in Croatia that he asked his mum back in Canada to make dolls he could give to children who had lost everything. The soldiers carried them in their pockets to give out. Tragically the soldier himself was killed but the dolls have carried on and millions have been made to give to traumatised children. We aim to make 1,000 and plan to distribute them via a Charities Advisory Trust initiative called Knit for Peace.’

There will be a meeting of the Knitting on the Edge group at the Tavy Club on Thursday, February 25 at 7.30pm and all knitters are welcome.

The wool amnesty is still ongoing — anyone who would like to donate any spare wool to the cause can take it to Knitting Korner on Pepper Street and Yarns of Tavistock on West Street.

Anyone who wants to get involved and do some knitting can visit one of the knitting shops where they will find a pattern and wool, if needed.

Knitters can join the group’s weekly knits at Kings Church every Wednesday morning from 10am to noon, where knitting is accompanied by friendly chatter and coffee and cake.

Tavistock Edge Festival aims to take the town by surprise again this summer with free music, theatre, arts and crafts bursting through the town on Saturday, July 9 and continuing throughout the Lions’ Carnival Week. Prior to this will be various fun events and workshops, so keep your eyes and ears open!