Thirsk Yarbombers - Knitting the community together with creativity

From the Tour de Yorkshire, to Remembrance Day and their much-anticipated Christmas displays, the group spreads joy and cheer with their decorations that have become something of a tourist attraction in Thirsk over the years.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to their regular social meetings and fundraising activities, but the Yarnbombers have been anything but dormant.

Their current Christmas display is a visible reminder of the group’s ongoing contribution to their community, but they have also been working hard behind the scenes to respond to requests for help.

Throughout the pandemic they have been busy making scrubs for key workers at local hospitals via the organisation ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ Yorkshire Group.

Thirsk Yarn bombers, pictured Elaine Bowman Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

And members have made dozens of mask bands to make it more comfortable for staff at the A&E Department at York Hospital and other wards to wear their face masks on duty.

Ambulance crews, community nurses, Ripon Hospital staff and Nursing Homes in Thirsk have also benefited from these special mask bands.

The Yarnbombers have also been involved in an assortment of other heart-warming schemes.

These have included making knitted hearts to give to bereaved families and those who couldn’t visit loved ones at the end of their lives at hospitals across the region, including York, The Friarage, James Cook in Middlesbrough and both the Harrogate and Ripon hospitals.

Chairwoman Irene Marwood said it was in the group’s nature to help and they were always keen to put their skills to good use within the community.

She said: “We get requests all the time and we are open to anything really.

“We’re a community group in Thirsk and the surrounding districts and everybody has got interests and are involved in various charities and organisations and they do cross over.

“It is rewarding, one of the things that was particularly moving was when the hospital nurses at James Cook asked if we would make the two matching hearts, one to go with the deceased and one for the family.

“It was really quite poignant and it was a very intimate thing which I think meant a lot to the families.

“The nurses want to carry it on with other patients on other wards and that is really quite moving.”

Irene Marwood

Other activities have included knitting bunting to display on Trafalgar Day at Sowerby House Nursing Home, the stunning poppy display on the Thirsk Clock Tower for Remembrance Day and supporting The Christmas Reading Challenge at Thirsk library by producing 250 craft packs to encourage young children to read over the festive holidays.

As Covid restrictions eased, the group managed some socially-distanced gatherings on a field next to the park in the summer for those who wanted to touch base and later at the Thirsk Garden Centre at their outdoor cafe.

Irene said: "We try to get together as much as we can, we have social events where we can all come together and it really is a very important part of many of the member's lives I have to say.

"Especially the members that live on their own, joining something and contributing something, they find it really rewarding.

"They are forming friendships and it really is something that brings people together."

To round off their busy year, the Yarnbombers held a craft stall yesterday at the Thirsk Market to raise money for their designated charity of 2020, the hospice project at the Lambert Hospital.

This article was produced as part of the Salt of the Earth campaign in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council and the D&S Times to highlight good deeds in the community each month.