As we step into a New Year, we are feeling so unbelievably grateful for our little shop, as well as the community that it is made by and for- that’s you! We wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year we’re waving goodbye to, and to be thankful as we remember. What better way than to do a round-up of all the amazing ways that you have all been so generous in helping us to support local charities, and our community, in 2024!
As many of you will know, we are a non-profit community interest company (CIC). In other words, all our profits go back into the local community. This means we are always trying to find new ways we can give back to Exeter and support the amazing work that already goes on in our city. A big part of this is the work our lovely Trudi Johnston does as our outreach coordinator, running courses like the Knit Stop in Exeter- an 8 week course at £10 a head with no extra cost, teaching those who want to learn to knit and create some community as they go. Trudi also teaches children in schools how to knit, and has taken knitting and crochet into 4 different schools in Exeter, regularly running projects with the students in connection with other events going on in the community. In addition Trudi coordinates our charity knitting and other community events - she's a star!
So, without further ado, here’s a roundup of the past year!
From January-December 2024, for Exeter Food Bank, we raised:
- £558 through selling Donated Stitch Markers
- £425 through selling donated hand-knitted Charity Socks
- £1,380 was raised during our annual online auction in November
- £480 was raised from donations at our Thursday Drop In Night
- £500 through fix your stitch sessions, thanks to our lovely Jackie Millichap! Who hosts all of you who need a helping hand, here in the shop, as a volunteer. She does this so that all profits raised thanks to her giving her time can be handed straight onto charity.
We have also, as a community, throughout 2024 have made and donated:
- 53 hats, 14 shawls, 12 scarves, 21 pairs of mittens, 3 head bands, 30 pairs of socks and 8 snoods/ cowls as gifts for Care Leavers in December, where over 70 young people who have left the care system to live by themselves for the first time attended council- run Christmas Dinners and each got to choose and receive a woolly Christmas Gift from your generous donations!
- In addition to the above, we also received a total of 75 hand knitted items of clothing and 294 hand knitted accessories for St Petrock’s, Knit for Peace, the Baby Hub and Cranbrook Community Hub.
- Finally, we received 76 handmade blankets for patients on the dementia ward in the RD&E to help them identify their beds and feel more at home.
With all of this in mind we want to say a huge THANKYOU to all of you who bought a new pair of knitting needles or a new crochet hook, bought a jumper quantity of yarn, booked onto a workshop to learn a new skill, donated yarn for our charity yarn basket, bid on an item in our charity auction… the list goes on! No matter how big or small your contributions have been to both our outright charity projects, and our business as a whole, it all helps make the contributions we make possible, as well as allowing us to continue providing a safe, welcoming and creative space for the members of our community in St Thomas and wider Exeter.
We hope this excites you as much as us, and we look forward to seeing you in the shop in 2025! Happy Making!