Love Quilts UK is a group of volunteer stitchers and quilters who cross stitch squares for British children under the age of 19 years, who have life-threatening or life-long illnesses. Love Quilts recently won a £50 donation in our 50 for 50 competition! We spoke to Gaynor from Love Quilts to hear how the donation will make a difference and to find out a little more about their cause and the work they do.
“How exciting! Thank you very much, we are delighted! As a volunteer-run group every penny counts, so £50 is very welcome!”
Tell us a little about your cause and what you do
We are a volunteer group of stitchers and quilts who make quilts for children around the UK who have life-limiting or life-long conditions. The quilts are used by the children on hospital stays to make them feel more secure in unfamiliar surroundings. Each quilt is personalised to the child on a theme – for example it might be Sea Life, Superheroes, Princesses…or a more unusual theme like Sloths or the city of Paris!
What are you currently fundraising for?
Organised via https://www.lovequiltsuk.com and our Facebook group, volunteers stitchers all over the world cross stitch panels and send them to us. When all the panels (12 per quilt) have arrived, UK-based volunteer quilters put them together into the final piece. We also have other volunteers doing the important work of creating patterns and fundraising.
We complete around 170 quilts every year, each costing around £35-£40, so we fundraise continuously to meet the costs of fabric, postage, web-hosting, etc.
Has the cost of living crisis affected your fundraising in the past year?
We have noticed a small dip in donations over the past year or so, no doubt linked to the cost of living crisis. We are so grateful that Easyfundraising exists: it has helped to keep us on an even keel financially for a number of years. Our top tip for new users of Easyfundraising is to spread the word amongst your supporters on social media and explain how it works for those who may be unfamiliar with the process.
Whats your top tip for new users using easyfundraising?
It’s also useful to install the Easyfundraising browser extension in your Internet browser (eg Google Chrome) as it will remind you via a pop-up when you’re shopping – then you don’t miss a chance to help your cause.
You can support Love Quilts for free every time you shop via easyfundraising. Sign up here.