Woolly warriors needed in Northamptonshire for 'Big Knit' in aid of charity, Age UK

National charity, Age UK, is calling for all knitting and crochet enthusiasts in Northamptonshire to get behind their Innocent 'Big Knit' campaign to help raise urgent funds for older people in need.

This is the 18th year that smoothie company, Innocent, has been running this campaign in partnership with Age UK and woolly warriors are needed once again to craft little hats to sit on Innocent smoothie bottles. For each be-hatted smoothie hold, Age UK Northamptonshire receives 25p, which will help the charity make a colossal difference to the lives of older people.

Christopher Duff, Chief Executive of Age UK Northamptonshire said: “We need the people of Northamptonshire to join us and help knit as many miniature hats as possible to help us hit our 10,000 target. It’s been a challenging time for everyone, but this is a really fun campaign to get involved in and it’s a great activity to do whilst we’re all spending more time at home.

“The money raised from these little hats will make a big difference to the lives of older people in our area, many of whom have been badly affected by the pandemic. Every hat knitted will help to fund our hugely important services, including our Service Advice Team, Day Care and many more.”

This presents a great opportunity for everyone spending lots of time at home to get crafting or for knitting newbies to grab some needles and give it a whirl. The pandemic has had a huge impact on older people over the past year so Age UK Northamptonshire is in need of these little hats more than ever to help raise funds for its vital services.

Head of Brand at innocent drinks, Katie Simpson, said: "We’re delighted to be working with Age UK on the Big Knit once again. After a hard year, we want to make this campaign as big as possible so we can help more older people than ever. We’re incredibly grateful to all the heroic volunteers helping us get there”

There are six exciting new hat designs for this year - including a rainbow, rabbit, cupcake, pom-pom, fox and bird. These knitting and crochet patterns are available to download from www.ageuk.org.uk/bigknit.

Visit the Age UK website or the Innocent 'Big Knit' campaign page for more information on how to get involved or call 01604 611200.

Please send completed hats to:

Jo Bird, Age UK Northamptonshire at The William and Patricia Venton Centre, York Road, Northampton, NN1 5QJ