Photo: Supplied
Children in war-torn Ukraine will hopefully have some winter woollies from New Zealand to keep warm this winter.
Knitting groups from around the country have taken up their needles for the long-running Operation Cover Up which sends hand-knitted blankets and clothing to eastern Europe.
Gladys Familton has been knitting for 22 years for the project, which was started by Liz Clarke in Taupo.
Eighty-three-year-old Gladys is the coordinator for the Oamaru area.
"I've got some keen knitting friends who are keen on this project but we thought it would have fizzled out long ago because it just seemed like the need wouldn't be there in the modern day, but the need is very much there," she said.
Operation Cover Up relies on donations, but Gladys said she's never short of knitting yarn.
"There always seem to be some people who've got grandma's house to clean out and they find a whole lot of wool in the cupboard and they say, 'what can we do with this wool...oh Operation Cover Up might be glad to have it!'"
Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
The biggest challenge for the energetic retiree is getting the items ready to send away.
"You've got to get it collected in, counted, sorted and packed and then taken out to a farm to get it pressed down and baled."
Gladys is hoping the cosy items will go to Ukrainian children and families to keep them warm next winter.
"They got there last year," she said.
"They go by container ship to Holland and from there, Mission without Borders transports them over to Eastern Europe where they find the neediest country. Moldovia, Bulgaria and Ukraine are the three main ones."
This year, Gladys's knitting group made 92 blankets as well as lots of jerseys, gloves and scarves. She says it's a labour of love as it takes at least 120 hours to knit a blanket.
"It's just one of those things you don't want to give up if there's still a need".
Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
