Last year the church ran an enormously successful Syrian Harvest lunch and as a result of the many generous donations received, almost £5,000 was sent to Hand in Hand to help the Syrian people. Sadly the need remains as great as ever and the work of Hand in Hand remains vital to help “restore health, hope & dignity, and show Syrians that the world hasn’t forgotten them.”
As a charity, Hand in Hand is special because it was the first agency to take humanitarian aid into Syria when most could not and still cannot operate on the ground because of political or security restrictions. It takes aid into really tough places, like behind the front lines and whenever possible, into besieged areas. Nothing is subtracted from donations to cover administrative costs and aid is taken to anyone who needs it, regardless of their politics or religion. If you have time, please read more about this remarkable organization at
http://www.handinhandforsyria.org.uk
This year the Social Action working party, with the agreement of the vicar and churchwardens, is planning to support the charity again in various ways during the autumn. You can help in a variety of ways:
By putting money in the collection on Harvest Sunday, as most aid is purchased in Turkey or Syria, where £1 buys a lot more than it does here
By donating new knitted blankets and knitted garments for all ages, from premature babies to adults, so important as winter approaches
By knitting or crocheting blankets or squares to be made up into blankets at one of the “Knit Ins” that are being run in September –
50% of the Syrian population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, a Syrian family is displaced every minute and 8,000 people are fleeing Syria every day. Please help in any way you can. For instance……
Come and join the Hampstead Parish Church Knit In!!(Also suitable for those who crochet)
When: In the church on Wednesday September 17th from 2.30 – 4.45
Or at : 1 Kidderpore Avenue, NW3 7SX
(Please contact Rebecca Dodson at [email protected] or phone 07766 234886)
on Wednesday 24th September at 7.30.
Tea and cakes will be served on Wednesday 17th, and drinks and nibbles on the 24th.
What do you need to bring with you? It would be helpful if you could bring some soft wool and knitting needles. To get squares roughly equal in thickness we suggest:
4ply – use 10s (3.25mm ) DK – use 8 or 9 (4mm or 3.75mm)Chunky – 6s or 7s (4.5mm or 5mm)And if you want to get started now we recommend they be knitted as follows (diagonally knitted squares stay flatter):
Cast on 2 sts and Knit one row. Increase 1 st at the beg of every row until the sides of the resulting triangle measure 10cm. Decrease 1 st at the beg of every row until there are 2 sts left. Fasten off.Please thread in all the loose ends. *(This will save time when sewing them together)
Speedy knitters or crocheters could aim to knit a whole blanket for a premature baby – about 30 cm x 40 cm or even a cot size at 1m x 70 cm.
When should the blankets be completed? By the beginning of October please, when the next delivery to Syria will be collected by Hand in Hand.
Hand in Hand for Syria
Diana Finning