Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is launching a new campaign and needs YOU to get involved.
The ‘Great BTH Knit Revisited’ needs knitted and crocheted rainbow coloured squares and flowers to create a post Covid-19 woollen structure to serve as both a memorial piece and a thank you of all the hard work of our NHS staff and key workers during the current pandemic.
It also recognises the crucial role played by people who heeded the advice to stay at home to protect the NHS and keep people safe.
Leading the campaign for the Trust is Nigel Fort. He said: “We want to get the whole community involved, just like we did with our Cloak of Poppies campaign for the 100th anniversary of World War One. We would like this campaign to be even bigger.
“Many of our community are getting in touch with offers of help and we hope that getting involved will bring people together from a distance and in doing so give thanks to all our key workers and remember those who have sadly lost their lives to the virus.”
Once again, the structure will be housed in the main entrance of Blackpool Victoria Hospital and will remain a secret until the reveal date is announced once the pandemic is over. The space will be a place for community, patients and staff to come together, talk about their experiences and leave dedications for those who have lost their lives.
Because of current lock down restrictions, the squares and flowers will need to be stored at home for now. The campaign is working on safe ways to receive the items and will update information on a special web page and on The Great BTH Knit Revisited Facebook page.
To be part of this poignant campaign, people are asked to make six by six inch or 15.24cm by 15.24cm knitted or crocheted squares. Any colour of the rainbow will do. Squares can be made individually or a few can be attached together as the structure will have a patchwork effect. Flowers can be knitted or crocheted following any pattern.
Contributors are also encouraged to take photographs and upload them to the campaign page on The Great BTH Knit Revisited Facebook page.
The squares and flowers can be posted to: Nigel Fort c/o Main Entrance, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Whinney Heys Road, Blackpool FY3 8NR. They can also be left at the desk marked for Nigel’s attention for anyone working within the Trust.
Advice from Trust senior infection prevention nurse suggests it is good practice to wash you hands before and after a knitting/crocheting session.
Evidence suggests that the Covid-19 virus can live for a longer period of time on hard surfaces than on fabric. If you are buying wool from a shop, online or have been given some by someone else, then the package containing the wool could be left for a period of 72 hours before opening. The campaign team will also wait 72 hours before opening any packages they receive.
Nigel added: “We are aiming to create something that everyone can be proud of and be able to spend time to reconnect with the each other. It will also be a place to display dedications and messages of remembrance. We are all in this situation together and together we can honour all those affected and those who have bravely carried on throughout the worst pandemic in generations.”