Blankets for London continued for a second year in 2024 thanks to amazing community participation and spirit, building on the success of our three years running Blankets for Lambeth.
In 2024 we beat our record number of blankets from 2023, as we assembled 221 blankets, bringing the total since 2020 to 472 blankets.
We partnered up with The Passage, Trussel Trust, Brixton Soup Kitchen in Lambeth, Ealing Soup Kitchen in Ealing and Your Place in Newham.
Across 2024, we facilitated ten monthly knitting workshops sponsored by The National Lottery Community Fund at our HQ 3Space International House in Brixton; in addition to our regular Knit Clubs, we hosted four Knitting Club sessions at Streatham Library funded by Streatham Action and five Crafting & Stretching Sessions in Brixton. Our Crafting & Stretching Sessions mixed a classic Knit Club for Blankets for London with gentle stretching and chair yoga led by our expert physiotherapist Rosmunda Avagliano: these sessions were funded by the London Community Foundation and Project Smith. We have also run a series of 4 weekly workshops at the National Trust property 575 Wandsworth Road called Men Can Knit: our first knit club for men. In 2024 we have also run two incredible 6-hour knitting marathons called The Big Cathedral Knit at Southwark Cathedral with over 2500 knitters and crocheters supporting Blankets for London.
Some more Blankets for London workshops we run this year include: a special fundraiser knitting and crochet workshop raising £440.51 for Shelter, a workshop facilitated in collaboration with Creative Health Camden, a workshop hosted at the LGBTQ+ Community Centre, and one workshop for Something Collective at O2 Centre Finchley Road.
We also partnered with Mulberry School for Girls and Queen Elizabeth Girls School: together with the school teachers, we hosted regular knitting and crochet clubs with the students to contribute to Blankets for London 2024.
This past year we have also created a fantastic online community of over 300 people on our WhatsApp Community group chat, and distributed two free digital resources: our Beginners Knitting Guide and our Project Planner.
It’s been incredible how much this project has grown in 2024, and we can’t wait to see what next year brings us!
Community First
Community and wellbeing is at the core of what we do. Join us on a creative journey of connection and impact: we believe in the power of collaboration and invite like-minded organisations and individuals to join forces with us. Whether through sponsorships or commissions, or through bespoke craft workshops and talks for your workplace, let’s create meaningful projects that align with our shared values and amplify our social impact.
