Calling all knitters! Newcastle charity ask for help in creating Shaun the Sheep toys

North East charity St Oswald’s Hospice are calling on those with knitting skills to help them to make their incredibly popular Shaun the Sheep soft toys.

More than 200 hand knitted Shaun the Sheep soft toys were launched last month, alongside the Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne trail, which saw 45 decorated sculptures of the character placed across Tyneside.

The soft toys were knitted by volunteers as part of a merchandise collection, and were sold on the website and from the trail HQ located at Newcastle Civic Centre, with proceeds going towards St Oswald’s Hospice.

Now, the charity is asking for more volunteer knitters to help them with the increasing demand for the soft toys, as they have proven to be a big hit over the summer.

Before the trail comes to an end on Wednesday, September 27, St Oswald’s Hospice are hoping to create more Shaun the Sheep soft toys, as well as at their Farewell Weekend in October, where members of the public will be able to see all of the sculptures together.

So far, more than £2,000 has been raised for the charity through the sales of the knitted soft toys, as well as other items from the merchandise collection which included aprons, cards, tote bags and cushions - all of which have been hand made by volunteers.

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Susan MacKellar, Fundraising Coordinator at St Oswald’s Hospice, said: “We are enormously grateful to every single person who has made items or donated wool and materials.

“The Shauns in particular have been a huge success. People have been loving how each one is unique and children have been spending ages looking through them all and choosing their favourites.

“We’d love a new batch to stock the shelves and also sell at the farewell event. All money raised from them comes to the hospice and we need them in a range of sizes as we like to offer people choice and have different price points.”

Donations of wool, craft materials and fillings for the soft toys are also in need and will be “gratefully received” by the charity.

To volunteer or donate, please contact the Supporter Care Team on 0191 2469123 or by email at [email protected].