OAPs knit for Op Christmas Child (From Wiltshire Times)
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OAPs knit for Op Christmas Child
8:00pm Thursday 8th November 2007 in News By John Ballard
Doreen Holder, Gwen Ling and Joan Stimpson have been busy knitting and crocheting hats, mittens and blankets for Operation Christmas Child
THREE Wiltshire pensioners have made hundreds of jumpers and blankets and more than 1,000 hats and gloves, but they are still busy knitting and crocheting to bring warmth to some of the world's poorest children this Christmas.
Gwen Ling, 81, and sisters Joan Stimpson, 77, and Doreen Holder, 75, are long-term supporters of Operation Christmas Child, and make jumpers, hats, mitts and blankets throughout the year to send to children in eastern Europe with the thousands of shoe boxes packed with festive gifts.
In more than 10 years of supporting Operation Christmas Child, Mrs Ling, of The Spinney, Trowbridge, calculates she has made 332 blankets, every one of which is different and takes many hours to complete.
She said: "I'm always making the blankets and buying wool, and friends and people I know bring me wool when they can.
"I do them throughout the year so I always have a blanket on the go and get through as many as I can.
"It works well for both me and the children because it keeps me occupied and it keeps them warm."
Mrs Stimpson, of Heddington Close, Trowbridge, and Mrs Holder, from Devizes, started helping Operation Christmas Child after their mother Elsie Mynott urged them to pick up their knitting needles for the cause. Mrs Mynott knitted until she died in 2001 at the age of 91.
Mrs Holder said: "We are so lucky in this country and have so much, so when I see the way some people live in other countries it makes me feel guilty, and I think we should try and do all we can to help others who are in need. Our mother really encouraged us and it's something we've continued ever since."
This year the sisters have knitted 33 jumpers and 134 hats and mitts. Since they started in 1998 their overall total is a staggering 776 jumpers and 1,558 hats and mitts.
Items that can fit in shoe boxes, including the hats, mitts and jumpers, are packed in with the other festive treats, while the blankets are loaded on to the lorries separately and distributed to those most in need when they arrive in eastern Europe.
The shoe box drop-off points across the region are now open, and will be collecting boxes until November 20.
