A care home is hosting a craft fair showcasing items crafted by its residents.
Northlands House Care Home in Southampton will hold the event on Saturday, November 23, featuring products made by its Knit & Natter Group.
The group, which was formed as part of the Young Visitors’ Project by the charity Communicare, is selling their creations to raise money for extra activities for residents.
Service development officer at Communicare, Tricia Kenyon, said: "They will be selling hoards of knitted Christmassy goods, handmade by the wonderful residents and our volunteers at Northlands House in Westrow Road, Banister Park at the Craft Fair at the Care Home this Saturday, November 23 from 2.30pm.
"One of the main aims of Communicare is to reduce loneliness and isolation in the community and, among many other schemes, we run intergenerational projects between the elderly and young volunteers.
"One of these is our Young Visitors’ Project at Northlands House, which aims to connect residents of Northlands House to young people, usually sixth formers, through activities and conversation. It is also a chance for the young visitors to learn about the residents’ childhoods and what life used to be like, and for the older residents to learn about life today from a younger person’s perspective.
"One of our senior volunteers wished to combine her knitting expertise with her involvement with the project by starting a conversational knitting group that became fondly known as Northlands’ Knit & Natter. She was able to revive a love of knitting in many of the residents and guided the members into renewing their skills.
"As the group is connected to Communicare, they quickly gained some junior members eager to learn to knit. The knitting gave the residents the opportunity to engage with the young people and was an important icebreaker that led into much deeper conversations."
Initially, each member of the group was tasked with knitting their own square for blankets, symbolising a generational collaboration.
Communicare is a neighbourhood charity that provides services aimed at improving the lives of isolated people in and around Southampton.
The charity's services are delivered by volunteers known as Communiteers who freely give their time.
For more information about Communicare, visit communicareinsouthampton.org.uk.
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