Pledge to knit items (From The Oxford Times)

Pledge to knit items

1:00pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012 in News By Amanda Williams

Kind-hearted knitters have pledged to help an army of women who make tiny clothes for premature babies.

It comes after the Oxford Mail published a call for more nimble fingered volunteers to help the group before Christmas.

The drive for the tiny clothes was started by women at the Wantage Day Centre in 2007, after hearing of the plight of hundreds of new parents at the John Radcliffe Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit, who were struggling to find baby clothes small enough to fit their newborns.

What started as a one-off donation of a few tiny blankets, hats and miniature booties has now grown to regular deliveries of thousands of brightly coloured baby items – each smaller than can be bought on the high street.

Grandmother-of-four Margaret Fell, from Grove, began co-ordinating delivery of the items in 2007.

She said she was overwhelmed by the response from volunteers after the Oxford Mail article.

Mrs Fell, 65, said: “The group has lost five members this year, and so is constantly on the look out for new knitters.

“Mums often come to hospital unprepared for an early arrival. Over the years many tiny souls have been clothed by the extraordinary skill of the volunteers.”

Eileen Breakspear, of Berinsfield, was one of the many women moved to help after she read of the babies’ plight.

Mrs Breakspear, 69, said: “I love knitting. I just can’t be sitting down doing nothing. I like to keep busy.”