The Yarnbombers of Fairfield raise £552 for Fairfield College

THE yarnbombers who turned Fairfield Farm College into a woolly wonderland have raised hundreds of pounds for the college’s indoor equestrian arena project.

Woolly Wednesday members Lynne Vercoe and Penny Hill met with Debbie Hughes, the charity fundraising manager for Fairfield Farm College to hand over a cheque for £522.80. “Penny and I are delighted to be able to hand over this cheque to the college,” said Lynne.

The yarnbombing display took two years to plan, with Lynne and Penny spending an endless number of hours knitting and crocheting to create the woolly explosion, but the project was never intended to be a fundraiser.

“Our aim for the yarn bomb had only ever been to draw attention to the wonderful work that the staff and students do here,” explained Lynne.

Initially, it was only meant to be on display as part of the Wylye Valley Art Trail in May, but the woolly explosion proved so popular that it remained up for weeks, delighting visitors to the college. When people started asking to purchase the items on display, the pair realised they could raise some money for the college.

“When we met for the crochet lesson mornings we thought we might be able to raise a few pounds from donations to help the appeal,” said Lynne. “We then decided we might be able to raise some more by selling a few items like the butteries and bees, as seen in the ‘bomb’.

“By the end of the event we were amazed by the amount we had achieved.”

Since handing over the cheque to the college, the donations have continued to come in. “People continued to ask to buy things.  So we decided to sell some of the other items that Woolly Wednesday members kindly donated. The amount raised has now passed the £600 mark.”

Whilst the  display is coming to an end, the charitable work of the pair continues. “We now plan to move on to making blankets for the homeless and other items from the, over one thousand, squares that were knitted and crocheted.”   

The pair have already begun working on their next ‘top secret’ idea for 2019.

The Woolly Wednesday club meet in the Fairfield Farm Café every Wednesday.  For more information please contact the college on 01373 823028 for further details.