Charity of the Month - Samaritans & Jane's Story

We’re delighted to be supporting Samaritans as our charity of the month throughout February!

During the month, you can round up your orders to the nearest £1 at the checkout and all money raised will be donated to Samaritans, a registered charity in England and Wales (219432) and Scotland (SC040604).

We’ll again be matching all donations so whatever you donate, we’ll donate the same, doubling the total amount raised for the charity.

Image credit: Chris O’Donovan Photography/Samaritans

Jane’s Story & Knitformentalhealth:

"In July 2020 we lost our 19-year-old son Llŷr to mental health. In order to cope with my grief, I started knitting. My Mother had taught me as a child, but I had not knitted for many years. I began making small things and giving them to anyone who came to the house. Anthony suggested I start selling the wrist warmers I was making to raise funds for mental health charities. I was quickly overwhelmed by demand and had to enlist help from friends and the community. We were quickly overwhelmed and had to stop taking orders. Our son Dr Alex asked for help on his Instagram account and before long the whole world was knitting and Knit For Mental Health was created.

Shortly after Llŷr passed away, my Doctor shared a story from Native American folklore which changed my outlook completely and helped us as a family understand more about mental health. This story is included with each of the gloves we sell.

Our purpose is to raise as much money as possible for mental health charities by making and selling products, handmade with love by volunteers from all across the country. Wherever possible, we use yarn donated to us. At the same time, we want to improve the mental health of both our creative volunteers and our customers by sharing the ‘2 wolves’ story’ and creating an inclusive community where creativeness is encouraged, and every voice is heard.

We are fundraisers for mental health charities and for every pair of gloves purchased a minimum of £11 will be distributed to various mental health charities chosen by Knitformentalhealth."

For more information about Knitformentalhealth and to purchase your own pair of gloves to support mental health charities, please visit Jane’s website here

About Samaritans:

Samaritans is a charity working across the UK and Ireland to reduce the number of people who take their own lives and help people who are struggling to cope with how they’re feeling or with life’s challenges. Just £5 could answer a potentially life-changing call.

Every seven seconds, Samaritans answer a call for help. They’re there, day or night, for anyone who’s struggling to cope, who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure. Samaritans is not only for the moment of crisis, they’re taking action to prevent the crisis.

Samaritans give people ways to cope and the skills to be there for others. They encourage, promote and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives.

Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy, and Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide. That’s why they work tirelessly to reach more people and make suicide prevention a priority.

To find out more about the vital work that Samaritans does please visit their website.

Last month’s charity: