Volunteers
We need proactive committed volunteers to set up and manage 'Knitting for the Needy' groups in their local areas.
Who can volunteer? Anyone! (Even if you can't knit)
We can't do it without you!
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‘Knitting for the Needy’ is a family of volunteers who are working towards ensuring every homeless Aussie stays nice and warm each winter.
Life on the street is unbelievably hard, especially when it gets cold. There are over 100,000 homeless Australians to keep warm each winter so there is plenty of knitting to do all year round in order to have enough for when winter arrives.
The wonderful thing about this program is that it has a double benefit. It’s a great way for people who are retired or in nursing homes to feel that they are contributing something special to the community, as well as providing a vital service to the homeless. Actually …it’s a triple benefit! That’s because its also a wonderful community service for a volunteer to spend time with people in nursing homes who are often lonely and bored.
It really gives our elderly knitters a sense of purpose and pride to be able to contribute something special to their community again. It’s also a lovely way to spend the afternoon, knitting with friends over a cup of tea.
Although the focus is on retirees and nursing home residents, we need all the help we can get so if your church or community group would like to get involved please do! You don’t even have to know how to knit in order to start a group in your area! I didn’t know how to when i started. I got the ladies to teach me (which they loved)
We need individuals from the community to be proactive and help us start knitting groups in your local area
Click here to Learn more about these volunteering opportunities here.
How’ Knitting For The Needy ‘Started
‘Knitting for the Needy’ founder, Mellissa O’Brien, worked in nursing homes for years amongst lovely elderly people who lived in sterile, hospital like accommodation with not much to do and not very many visitors. Many of them felt lonely and bored. Depression & frustration were experienced all too often by the residents and their quality of life was not what it should’ve been.
After doing some volunteer work with the homeless in Sydney, Mellissa realized the demand for warm winter items and knew that the people she had worked with in the past would be more than happy to contribute to that cause. Many can knit and would love to feel like they had something to contribute. It was a perfect match!
Since its inception, the program has been very popular and we hope that one day we can keep each homeless Australian warm and cosy in the colder months.