Compass Support, the charitable subsidiary of The Pioneer Group, is putting together a series of Wellbeing Activity Packs for residents across the Edington constituency.

Residents can choose from four different activities, including a twelve-week Crochet Circle project to create a rainbow blanket. The first crochet packs will be delivered on 24 June 2020.

Local organisations from GP surgeries to social workers are being asked to refer isolated individuals to receive a pack. Referrals are even coming in via social media from friends and families who may not be able to get to the lucky recipient of the packs.

Compass Support has put together the crochet activity with a company called The Knitting Corner, enabling local residents to take part in a regular group activity from the comfort of their own home.

For the Crochet Circle project, each week the participants receive yarn and instructions to create their blanket.

The activity is extremely important as it provides a focused activity and builds a new friendship circle as after a couple of weeks, the Compass Support team will start to buddy up participants, so that they can talk about the activity while getting to know more people.

Every week, a member of Compass Support drops of the packs and this also provides some interaction for people who are isolated or shielding.

Once the twelve weeks are up, Compass Support hopes to continue similar activities within the community and envisages that knitting and crocheting will be popular.

Compass Support also hopes that by bringing together this new virtual group, members will be  encouraged to take part in other activities once we are back to normal, as they will already know others and have some skill in the activity.

Sarah Powers, Health and Wellbeing Team Leader at Compass Support:

We approached The Knitting Corner to develop an activity which could bring together isolated members of our community. They have created a plan that fits in really well, and appeals to both novices and experienced knitters.

The project is being funded through the Birmingham City Council and the Neighbourhood Network Scheme, as well as the Prevention and Communities Grants programme.

We’d like to thank The Knitting Corner for all their support with these packs. It’s a difficult time for everybody but activities like this are a vital lifeline and really support those that we can’t reach in the normal way at the moment.