This is how you can help Afghan refugees through knitting
Published on 18 October 2021 2 min read‘Breathe in... knit one, purl one… exhale and repeat.’ When we’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed, many of us crafters turn to our knitting needles or crochet hook to help us cope. Knowing the importance of crafting for mental wellbeing, we’re helping Knit for Peace UK provide Afghan refugees in the UK with yarn packs. Here’s how you can support too.
Sponsor a knitting pack for a refugee
To help Afghan refugees, Knit for Peace UK are making up packs with yarn, needles and haberdashery to give to refugees arriving in the UK.
Previous craft packs for Syrian and Kurdistan refugee camps have received positive feedback. The kits have helped women by giving them a sense of purpose as they knit for their children and family.
If you are able and would like to, you can sponsor a pack for £25 and include a welcoming message. Knit for Peace are also sending out larger quantities where the women are meeting in groups.
Knit for Peace
Knit for Peace started back in 2008 as a self-help project for war widows, survivors of the genocide in Rwanda. The idea spread to Pakistan and Afghanistan when a knitter in the UK heard of the project through the SE Asian Women’s Network and asked if she could knit for the children of Afghanistan. What began as three knitted baby hats in a Jiffy bag, soon turned into an outpouring of knitting. Today, Knit for Peace have around 40,000 knitters in the UK! And you can join them.
If you’d like to donate your own knitting or crochet, check out the items that are currently needed through Knit for Peace, some items are already well stocked, so it's a good idea to keep checking back!
Other ways you can get involved
As well as the kits for Afghan refugees arriving in the UK, Knit for Peace also provide women’s refuges and care homes in the UK with craft packs, you can help by sponsoring a pack for a care home here.
Knit for Peace also offer real knitting holidays in picturesque locations around the UK and abroad to support the work of Knit for Peace. With every unique holiday, there’s the opportunity to learn knitting techniques from renowned tutors, meet new friends and explore the local area in friendly company. The Get Britain Knitting Campaign this autumn will be supported by Jane Crowfoot and our very own Debbie Bliss and Merion Willis.
