Knitted Hats / Hulme Winter festival

Benefit of knitting

Craft activities are particularly beneficial to older people and are recommended by NICE to promote independence and wellbeing in older people. Older adults who attend craft groups are less likely to have doctor-related visits and require less medication, resulting in cost-savings and reduced demand on health services. Craft groups help individuals build strong friendships, reducing social isolation and loneliness. Knitting has been shown to have benefits on multiple aspects of health including reducing depression and anxiety, slowing the onset of dementia, lowering blood pressure, reducing isolation and loneliness and increasing sense of inclusion in society.

Location

Hulme Moss Side and Rusholme.

Project Team

Neighbourhood Health Worker

Robert Darbishire Practice

One Manchester

Moss Care St Vincent’s Housing Group

Manchester Metropolitan University

The Union at MMU

Aim

Provide a knitted hat to older residents in Hulme as part of the Winter Warm Festival

Provide an opportunity for resident to take part in a craft activity during lockdown for free.

Testimony

“It was a fantastic project and kept us motivated. It gave us a purpose and was very uplifting for the group. We had some people in the group who were learning to knit, and it was good for them to have a goal” Power Knitters

“My mother felt very useful as she loves knitting and she is very happy knowing her hats will be worn by older people who need them to keep warm. She has in the past knitted hats for the homeless. She has decided to continue to knit more hats, scarves and mittens and put them in a box ready for the next time she is asked for knitted items. She is currently knitting herself a blanket out of oddments to put over her legs as she has been feeling cold as the temperature has dropped. She said she will continue to make small blankets as some older people may want to put them around their shoulders or round their legs to keep warm. This gives her a purpose to continue to feel that she is making a useful contribution to society. And it uses up all the odd bits of wool accumulated from the many hundreds of garments that she has made over the years.

I enjoyed making the hats myself and it made me very happy that my mum felt a great sense of achievement in making a lot more than me. It became a great mother and daughter activity during these long lockdown months. If someone was to ask me in years to come what I remembered of the Pandemic It would be the Mother and daughter activities of knitting, chatting and thinking that we might bump into someone, somewhere and recognise a hat that one of us had made." - resident's daughter

Evaluation

20 residents took part and knitted 108 hats that were donated to 80 residents.

To ensure that people only knitted from the pattern provided we also included a tension guide with the pattern which was appreciated.

Strategic links to local/national policies

Research/evidence base

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Inquiry Report (2017) - Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing

Burt, E. L. and Atkinson, J. (2012) The relationship between quilting and wellbeing, Journal of Public Health, Volume 34, Issue 1, Pages 54–59.

Cohen, G. (2009) New theories and research findings on the positive influence of music and art on health with ageing. Arts & Health, 1:1, 48-62.

Knit For Peace – The Health Benefits of Knitting

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). (2015). Older People: Independence and Mental Wellbeing. London: NICE.

Contact

Patricia Williams _ Neighbourhood Health Worker

Patricia.Williams@gmmh.nhs.uk

T: 0161 271 0590

T: 07818 523 098