‘Knit and natter’ sessions held at Northampton primary school in memory of teacher’s daughter lost to Covid-19

The mother of a 31-year-old, who lost her life to Covid-19 in 2020, has set up ‘knit and natter’ sessions at a Northampton primary school in her memory.

Mandy Rainbow, a teacher at the Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School in Kingsthorpe, wanted to create a legacy for her daughter Amy-May Thomson.

The crocheted blankets are donated to Cats Protection, a charity close to Amy’s heart as she had a “close affinity with cats”.

Mandy said: “Amy was beautiful inside and out, and had so much more to live for.

“We could tell each other anything and knew one another inside out.

“Losing a child is one of the worst things you can go through, and these past two years have been hell.”

Amy taught herself how to crochet and created rainbows, hearts, stars and nurses to donate to Cats Protection during the pandemic to help in the only way she could.

Talking about how Amy would react if she could see the crocheting legacy she left behind, Mandy said: “She would have been so proud to have started this off.”

Mandy recalled Amy attempting to teach her how to crochet and “never had any luck”. She teaches the knitting at the sessions and the school’s site manager, Alex Youngson, teaches the crocheting.

Mandy wants to show people Covid-19 is “very real” and how much it has devastated some families.

Amy was in hospital in May 2020 for four weeks with an infection, and she caught the virus while she was on a ward.

After fighting the infection and “having nothing left to give”, she was taken to the Covid-19 intensive care unit.

Mandy dropped the phone in disbelief when she found out her daughter was not going to survive, and was allowed to visit one final time despite being vulnerable to the virus.

Amy’s fiancee Max was with her as she passed away, after Mandy said goodbye to her for the final time. She says there was “nothing more difficult than that”.

Mandy’s mother passed away eight months later, which she believes was from a broken heart after losing Amy. Mandy said: “She was absolutely beside herself when Amy passed away.”

Mandy’s mother passed away on February 8 2021, five days before Amy’s birthday.

“I believe my mum needed to be with Amy on her birthday,” said Mandy.

The teacher praised the “amazing” staff and students at Good Shepherd for helping her get through the “hardest two years” after Mandy lost her only child.

Mandy described Amy as “artistic, intelligent and a lover of books”, which she always blamed her mother for after buying so many for her growing up.

She taught herself many skills, including crochet and photography.

Amy did a masters degree in English Literature, and was due to start her PhD in October 2020.

Mandy visits Amy’s grave everyday and will be continuing the ‘knit and natter’ sessions in her memory in September when the new academic year begins.

The year five students who have taken part this year requested for it to continue, and the sessions will begin again for year fives, sixes and teachers after the summer holidays.

Mandy loves seeing everyone “chatting, giggling and getting on” and could not have asked for a better reception.