FareShare Greater Manchester

A postcard from January 2026

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Hello there! I hope 2026 is treating you kindly so far. It’s been a pretty good month for us, no dramas, no insurmountable problems and despite people calling January the longest month of the year – I think it’s sped by pretty quickly. I wasn’t really ready for it to come to an end, but it has and here I am with my first monthly postcard of the year.

Here’s a little snapshot of what I have been up to so far this year…

A cold start to the month

Our first snowy dusting of the year

I know some places around the UK and further afield have experienced some very cold and snowy weather of late. As usual, in my part of the world – which is renowned for its dampness – we have had a rather cold snap but not so much of the white stuff. I always get excited when I see a flurry of snowflakes coming down, it immediately transports me back to being a child again. Unfortunately for the children (and some of the grown ups) in my part of Manchester, there certainly wasn’t enough for snowmen this month!

We did experience some very cold weather in the first week of the year though, unfortunately for us, it coincided with our central heating boiler going on the blink. Youngest had a football match on the first Sunday of the month, in minus 6 weather. It was bitterly cold, but thanks to the fact it was being played on a very smart, state-of-the-art artificial pitch, it was the only game that week in their league which wasn’t called off.

Despite wearing thermal leggings and top under my usual clothes, with two pairs of socks, double coat and hat, I wimped out and ran back to the car to get the heaters on at half time, this picture shows the payers heading back onto the pitch after the shortest half time I’ve ever experienced. Clearly everyone wanted to get it over and done with and get back to warm houses! I had enough time to walk to the car, turn on the ignition and then it was time to go back out into the cold again!

We ended up going home to a cold house as our boiler had stopped working. Thankfully, some of the football parents had spare electric heaters which they leant to us until we could get it fixed (a faulty sensor apparently). It was a stark reminder that without central heating it can be very cold, and for those who struggle to pay for heating, it must be very bleak indeed.

100 episodes of Making Stitches Podcast

I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but at the start of January, I released episode number 100 of Making Stitches Podcast. It was a bit different this time, as my friend Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum offered to interview me! It was lovely having a chat with Christine, we talked about how I got into my crafty passions as well as my broadcasting experiences and my previous podcast, Gibraltar Stories.

It was a bit out of my comfort zone at first, I normally like to be the one asking the questions! But Christine was very gentle with me and was an excellent podcast host! If you haven’t listened yet, you can find it in all the usual podcast places (by searching for Making Stitches Podcast) – you can also find it here, on the Making Stitches Podcast website.

Also this month, my podcast host (Buzzsprout) sent me a lovely recap of the year. It was filled with stats about 2025 for Making Stitches and I was floored to hear that last year, it was listened to in 156 countries & territories around the world!! That’s just a little bit bonkers isn’t it??

Another birthday!

I celebrated my birthday this month, and was spoiled by Eldest who sent these beautiful flowers to me through the post. They were super. I felt very appreciated.

Our approach to Manchester Cathedral
Ready for the show to begin
During the amazing show!

Also for my birthday, my lovely parents took me to see an amazing show at Manchester Cathedral called Luminisence. It was incredible. We arrived knowing very little about what to expect and found some chairs at the back. Slowly the cathedral began to fill with people and then the music started. It was a stunning performance of so many great tunes by a gospel choir with the stunning backdrop of Manchester Cathedral illuminated by a light show. Lights and moving pictures were projected onto the walls and ceiling while the music played along with a narration by the actor, Christopher Eccleston talking about the history of the city and the cathedral itself. If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it – it was stunning.

January makes

One of my lovely colleagues at work celebrated a big birthday recently. I felt it warranted a mini-me to be made so knocked this little lady up. I used Carla Mitrani’s Crochet Iconic Women book as the basis for the pattern. I love this book and have made so many gifts for special people using the patterns in it.

This gorgeous book was a birthday present to myself. The Crochet Stitch Companion by Anna Nikipirowicz. I want to try to get to grips with mosaic crochet this year, and thought this was a good place to start.

When it arrived through the post, it came wrapped up with this cute crocheted flower and a tea bag! Never before have I received such a beautifully presented book through the post.

Also this month, I managed to get around to getting these hearts off to the North West & North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. The service has an appeal for yarny hearts (knitted or crocheted will do). They ask for 3 matching hearts, one for the patient (a child) and one for each parent, so if they have to be separated from each other during the journey they are on, or at their destination, they will all have a matching heart to keep hold of.

You can read all about the appeal here.

And I’ve been knitting! I got a voucher at Christmas for my favourite yarn shop, Black Sheep Wools, so popped along and spent it on a pattern, some yarn and new needles. I have set myself a tight deadline of mid March for two new cardigans, one knitted (see picture) and another one which is crocheted. Do you think I’ll manage to hit the deadline? Only time will tell.

Miles for Meals

The view from the top of Rivington Pike
My frosty birthday morning run
My final walk on 31st Jan taking me to my target

I didn’t really start the year with any resolutions, but I did set myself the target of walking or running 104km this month. At my work (FareShare Greater Manchester) we are trying to raise £25,000 to replace one of our delivery vans which have a habit of breaking down. We use those vans to get food out to the charities and community groups which we support with surplus food. I pledged to walk or run the distance of one of those delivery routes – the one from our base in Openshaw to Atherton and Wigan which is around 65 miles long or 104 km.

I set out on my Miles for Meals mission in the first few days of the year. We traveled to Rivington which is just a stone’s throw from the Atherton and Wigan delivery route and climbed to the top of Rivington Pike. It was a cold and sunny day and we could see as far as Manchester city centre, the mountains of North Wales, Liverpool docks, Blackpool tower and the mountains of the southern Lake District from the top of the hill. It was stunning.

Since then, my walks and runs haven’t been quite as picturesque and were often after dark, but I did manage a morning run on my birthday which was frosty and sunny and then yesterday, on my final day, I woke up with another 10km still to cover, so I set off on a solo walk from our home to a lovely riverside coffee shop beside the River Mersey and back again – a round trip of 10.5km which took about 2 hours to complete. I can safely say I have completed my mission and should you like to contribute to my fundraising efforts, you can find my Just Giving page here.

Thank you!

And that brings me to a close. Thank you for joining me on this jaunt back through the last 31 days! I’m hoping to maintain this throughout the year with a monthly postcard – something I failed to do last year, but we’ll see how it goes.

I hope that February is kind to you and I look forward to seeing what it has in store for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from May 2025

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Hello, and welcome to this Postcard from May! I’m starting off with this brilliant sign of spring turning into summer, the first swift I spotted this year.

Back when this blog first began, and my family was living in Gibraltar, we used to spot scores of swifts screaming around the tightly packed streets of the Upper Town in March! This was as they were on their way up north from Africa to spend the summer in the skies above northern Europe. Every time I hear one, I think of those early spring skies in Gib!

So, to May, well, it was a month of lots of podcasting (more on that later!), quite a bit of crochet and the small matter of a running race…

Sporting highlights

Beautiful Manchester Central Library on 10K day

Back on 18th May, a huge chunk of Manchester pulled their running shoes on and took part in the Great Manchester run. The city centre was buzzing and the weather was lovely (almost a little too lovely for the runners – but I’m not really complaining about that!). The atmosphere was utterly amazing and I was so glad I’d signed up to take part again this year.

For those who have followed my blog for a while, you will know I’m not a natural runner, I wasn’t built for speed, but last year, as a personal challenge to prove that hitting the big 5-0 didn’t mean I was ready for the scrap heap, I undertook a lot of training and ran the Great Manchester Run 10k. It was only ever meant to be one-time-only affair, just so I could say “10K you say? Oh yes, I’ve run one of those!” However, on the finish line, those plans were scuppered…. I can honestly say that that last kilometre was a killer and I was vowing to myself, “Just keep going, don’t stop – you’ll never have to do it again!”

But… when I caught up with Son number 2, who was 16 at the time, he said “I’m really proud of you Mum, when you run it next year, I’ll do it with you!”. Not one to thwart the enthusiasm of the young, I kind of had to say yes and sign up again. Fast forward 12 months and there I was, standing back on the starting line, with hundreds of people separating me from Son number 2 as he had pushed forward to be with the fast folk so he could clock a good time!!

This was me at around the 5K mark – photo credit, my lovely friend V who cheered us on

I can honestly say that this time around it wasn’t as bad as last year, I knew that the last kilometre would be hard, but I was prepared for it, and I did it just a minute slower than last year (had I realised, I may have speeded up!) but, that said, I didn’t feel as bad as last time – I won’t go so far to say it was easier, but I guess I must have been a bit fitter. As my Mum said, (who saw me between 6K and 7K) “You didn’t look as dead as you did when you passed us last year dear”. So I’ll take that as a compliment – thanks Mum!

Proof I did it! Me and my medal

I decided to raise funds this year for FareShare Greater Manchester, the charity I work for. If you would like to support my amazing sporting achievement (haha) my Just Giving page is still open for business. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far – as I write this, the total stands at just over £600 which is brilliant. You can find the link to my page here if you want to check it out.

Also last month, I went to watch our family’s team, Manchester United for a very significant occasion, which happened to be the last match of the season. It was my lovely Dad’s last match as a season ticket holder. He decided that this year, at the age of 82, he was finding the winter matches too cold to sit in the stands for so long and the amount of standing during the matches to see over the people in front was too much for his octogenarian legs. Dad has held his season ticket in the same stand since the season I was born (1973-4). He decided that as he was going to be a Dad and that meant he was getting old, he should treat himself to a seat and move out of the Stretford End which was a standing only area at the time.

So for as long as me and my brother have been alive, Dad has sat in that stand with the same match-going buddies around him. It felt too significant to let it pass without a bit of a fuss. So, I booked tickets for me and Son number 3 to go (the only United appreciator of my offspring) and be in the stadium at the same time, I got Dad’s name put up onto the scoreboard and a little bit about him in the match day programme too.

My view of the Old Trafford pitch at the top of the tallest stand, Dad was in the stand on the left – I even managed to spot him at one point!

It was so lovely to be back at Old Trafford, as once upon a time I was a frequent visitor – my first ever job at the age of 16 was there and I worked there throughout my A-Levels and in university holidays too. In fact it was Manchester United which set me on the career path into radio which eventually led to me creating the Making Stitches Podcast!

I’m so glad we managed to join Dad on this special day – even if we were sitting miles away from him. Oh, and they won too which was a relief!

Making Stitches 2025 CAL

May Blossom square

The May square for the Making Stitches 2025 CAL was a blossomy one. I really debated whether to feature cherry blossom in the April square but changed my mind, opting for April showers for the driest month since records began in the UK (I may be slightly exaggerating there). However, thankfully for me, there was still plenty of blossom around and about when April turned into May, so I still had the chance to jump on the blossom band wagon – what a thrill!

I was really pleased with how turned out, and it would appear that lots of you liked it too as there were some beauties which popped up in my Instagram feed through out the month – you can see some of them below.

Some of the May Blossom Squares

If you missed out on the May Blossom square when it came out, you can still find it on my blog here.

In other crochet news….

Since early this year, I have been beavering away on a cardigan project. I made myself one of these cardigans a good few years ago. It’s a Fran Morgan pattern from Simply Crochet magazine called ‘A Good Vintage’ – you can still buy the pattern online.

My Mum has long admired my cardy, so I decided to make one for her birthday – only problem is, that was in March not May! On the big day, I gave her the body and one sleeve wrapped up and had to ask for it back to finish it. Well, here it is out in the sunshine on my blocking mat.

I’m pleased to report, she thought it was worth the wait!

And, there’s more crochet too…

A special crochet project ❤️

I’m sure an awful lot of you will be aware of a significant blog anniversary which happened earlier in June – the 10th anniversary of Coastal Crochet, by the lovely Eleonora Tully. I have been reading Eleonora’s blog since the early days, as I discovered her as I began my own blogging journey in June 2015 too. Obviously Eleonora’s and my blog trajectory hasn’t quite been the same, but it’s an anniversary worth celebrating none the less! So, last year, when we met up at Yarndale, we discussed the possibility of collaborating on something to mark our joint blog birthdays. The photo above is evidence of that design in progress.

We are hoping to share the finished design next month, and can’t wait to share it with the world!

Podcast News

The first Making Stitches Podcast episode in May was another 10th anniversary celebration (there must have been something in the water in the late spring/early summer of 2015 surely?). This time it was being celebrated by my fabulous sock-knitting friend Christine Perry from Winwick Mum.

During that decade of encouraging the world to knit socks, there have been literally tens of thousands of socks knitted – that’s some achievement. You can find out more about the episode and listen to it here.

Next came a chat I had with Rachael Mills, a crochet teacher and designer and dressmaker from Lancashire. It was Rachael who was responsible for crocheting the giant doily which adorned a Ford Escort car and which was part of the installation which won the 2024 Turner Prize.

I loved hearing about how she took a phone call from the artist, Jasleen Kaur and wasn’t put off about the size of the project – just saying “Yes, I’m up for that!”. What a life lesson that is, you never know where opportunities might lead….

Find the full episode show notes here.

And finally, one week ahead of schedule, I published this episode featuring Nat Walton, the curator of the Woven in Kirklees textiles festival – the reason for the early episode – it went out on the eve of the start of the festival, World Stitch Day on 1st June.

This biennial festival draws on the whole community of this West Yorkshire district and covers all sorts of crafts and creativity. It was fascinating to hear the story of the festival and all the things visitors to this year’s events can enjoy.

Find out more here.

Simply Crochet, simply exciting!

So, this is exciting. A little while back I was approached by Simply Crochet Magazine to ask whether I would like to be featured for my blogging and crochet work. I have been the subject of an article about my podcast, but never about my crochet before. I have to say, after reading the magazine for many years (I even had it delivered to me when I lived in Gibraltar and we moved back home to the UK in 2020), it really made me feel like I’d ‘arrived’ a bit.

What an honour to be featured in this brilliant magazine. You can find the article in issue 162, if you want to have a read. Thank you so much Simply Crochet, and thank you to Marianne Rawlins (@mazcrochets on Instagram) for interviewing me and writing such a lovely interview.

And that just about brings this latest postcard to a close, but I can’t go without acknowledging the awful news our online crafty community received yesterday about Amanda Bloom. I never met her, but I did have the opportunity to speak to Amanda on a couple of occasions for Making Stitches Podcast, and we had spoken recently about me going to visit her at her latest creative endeavour, her ‘Craft Room’ at Bentham in North Yorkshire.

I hope Amanda has found peace at last and that she has been reunited with her beautiful daughter, Jenny.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Lindsay x

Jenny’s Mandala, from Amanda Bloom’s Little Box of Crochet

A Postcard from April 2025

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Hello there! How have you been? We’re ticking along fine up here at Making Stitches HQ, we have been basking in the sunshine recently. My decision to opt for April showers for last month’s square of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL was a bit of a mistake – or maybe it caused the sunny weather we’ve enjoyed?

Here’s my latest postcard, a week and a bit later than planned… I hope you enjoy it!

Sunny Rochdale

Rochdale Town Hall

At the start of April I travelled to Rochdale to visit an old school friend of mine, it was a stunningly sunny day and we decided to go out and enjoy the lovely weather. Whilst I had visited her at home several times before, I had never been into Rochdale town centre, so we headed off and went to the recently refurbished Town Hall – my word it was stunning. The main entrance hall had the feeling of an ecclesiastical building more than a civic one.

The stained glass was stunning and shown off to its advantage by the bright sunshine outside. Inside there was an exhibition of more modern stained glass made by artists which was beautiful too. I particularly loved this bunch of flowers and the blue & green design. The floral window, created by Deborah Lowe, was called ‘Right there with you, Mr Morris’ and was inspired by William Morris. The blue & green one was created by Debbie Copley and was called ‘Goldfinch & Blue Teasels’.

Right there with you, Mr Morris by Deborah Lowe
Goldfinch & Blue Teasels by Debbie Copley

Also on display were two textile pieces produced by Artist Alison Greyer. One had an emphasis on nature, community & remembrance and was made in collaboration with a local arts & crafts group, the second piece was inspired by pupils at a local primary school.

Upstairs in the town hall is the most amazing space which, on the day we visited, was prepared for a boxing match!

The joy of nature

One of our favourite walks down to the River Mersey close to our home

The beautiful dry and sunny weather persisted throughout April, which was truly lovely to enjoy. There were odd days when it was overcast and wet, but to my mind it was nice far more often than when it was cold and wet. What a luxury! This, in turn had a brilliant effect on the nature around me, there have been fabulous shows of blossom, from cherry blossom early on to hawthorn and many other sorts too. It’s thanks to the brilliant displays we have enjoyed this year, that I was inspired to make May’s Making Stitches 2025 CAL square a blossom themed one. 

Crochet…

An Easter themed post box topper in my local town

I will start this section with some crochet that doesn’t belong to me – I always admire post box toppers when I see them – the amount of work and time that goes into them for the benefit of others. This Easter themed one was on one of the main roads through my nearest town. I’m so glad it was left to look lovely and not destroyed.

April Showers Square – last month I opted for the weather as the theme of my Making Stitches 2025 CAL square. I had been toying with the idea of going for blossom as the theme but in the end went for April Showers as the the March square had been floral. It’s always so lovely to see squares appearing on social media throughout the month as other people join in and make their own versions! Thankfully the beautiful blossom has persisted which meant I was able to use that as the inspiration for the May Square instead!

If you would like to have a go at making any of the Making Stitches CAL squares, you can find the patterns all here.

Some of the brilliant Making Stitches CAL Squares which have appeared online this month

Crochet collaboration!

Making Stitches Blog is going to be celebrating a big birthday this summer – it will be 10 years since I set off on this blogging adventure. Back then, of course, it wasn’t called Making Stitches – the name was Postcard from Gibraltar but when we moved back to the UK, I changed the name. Way back in the early days of my blog, I found a fellow blogger who was talking about crochet and other things I was interested in and we became online friends. That blogger then went on to much bigger and better things, designing for Yarn Companies, teaching workshops and is now about to fly to Australia to talk to crocheters over there! She is, of course, Eleonora from Coastal Crochet.

Eleonora’s picturesque beach reveal of our colour palette
My own, back garden version!
Work is underway!

We have been lucky enough to meet in person a couple of times (both times at Yarndale) and when we met up last September, we talked about our impending 10th anniversaries. We decided it would be nice to do something together to mark this landmark and are now collaborating on a joint crochet pattern which we will be unveiling in the summer. Eleonora broke the news on her social media with a perfectly ‘Coastal Crochet’ photo showcasing the yarn we have chosen. I’m afraid my version in my back garden isn’t quite as romantic but it doesn’t matter! 

Eleonora & I at Yarndale last year

We have decided upon the design for our joint project and work has already begun, if you follow our social media (Instagram in particular) you may have spotted some sneak peaks of our progress along the way. I’m looking forward to sharing more in the weeks to come!

Big Birthdays

Eldest’s 21st birthday cake
Making Stitches Podcast turned 5

There were 2 big birthdays in the Making Stitches household in April – Eldest turned 21 (eek!) and Making Stitches Podcast turned 5!

I have no idea how I have ended up with a fully formed adult as a child – it doesn’t seem possible. It’s only 5 minutes ago we were going to baby music groups and then talking about starting school! Time flies far too quickly. On the day after he celebrated his 16th birthday in April 2020’s first lockdown, I launched Making Stitches Podcast as something fun to focus on as we navigated lockdown and an impending relocation back to the UK. I feel quite proud that it’s still going 5 years on. It’s a common fact that podcasts often run out of steam and some don’t last even a complete first series, so to have one which has survived 5 years is a pretty good achievement I think.

Podcast News

So while I’m talking about the podcast, here’s what you may have missed in April. First of all I got to sit down and chat to Marianne Rawlins a crochet designer based in the South West of England. Marianne designs and writes for Simply Crochet Magazine. It’s because of her work writing articles that our paths crossed as she asked to turn the tables and interview me about my blog and podcast for a future issue of the magazine. After that, I returned the favour and asked whether she would like to come on the podcast to talk about her work. It’s funny that we discovered we have an awful lot of things in common, including starting out in journalism and now working in marketing & communications. You can find her episode here.

The second April episode included a chat which was a total joy to record. I have honestly never laughed so much while recording an interview. My guests were husband and wife team Sean and Sara MacLeod. Sara is an avid crocheter who shares hermakes on Instagram. What makes her account stand out is not just her beautiful creations, but the stunning scenery of their home on the Cowal Peninsula on the West coast of Scotland AND her husband Sean. Sara describes Sean as her ‘crochet supermodel’ and he can be seen wearing all sorts of crocheted garments as well as being draped in blankets too. They are such a funny pair, and clearly Instagram agrees as they have a following of almost 30,000. You can find their episode here.

A favour before you go…

You might remember that this time last year, I ran my first ever 10k. It was a challenge to myself for my 50th birthday so I could say ‘I did one’. It was only going to be one-time-only event.

However, on the finishing line, Son Number 2 told me he was very proud of me and that when I do it next year, he would run it with me. I couldn’t very well say – “I’m sorry I’m not doing it again”. So, on 18th May (next Sunday – eek!), I will be running the Great Manchester Run 10k again, this time though I will have Son Number 2 with me at my side as we set off (then I won’t see him for dust!). He’s aiming to run it in under 1 hour, I’m aiming to just get round.

We are going to be fundraising for FareShare Greater Manchester, the charity that I work for and where Son Number 2 has volunteered several times. We have a Just Giving Page, so if you have a little spare cash and wouldn’t mind sponsoring our efforts we’d be most grateful – thank you!

Our race numbers have arrived so it’s official now!

And that’s all for this round up of April. I hope it was a good month for you and that life is treating you well. Until next time, thank you for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from December 2024

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River Yarrow in Lancashire

Hello there! I hope you have had a good month and that Christmas went ok for you. I have decided to go into 2025 with good intentions and try to be up to date with things so here’s my Postcard from December on the last day of December!

It’s been a funny old month weather wise with us not so much cold and frosty weather as you might expect but plenty of grey, dull, wet and in some cases very foggy days.

In spite of the weather it’s been looking really rather pretty in our neighborhood with lots of lovely Christmas lights adorning people’s homes and gardens.

A lovely yew tree dressed for the season

The FareShare Festive Feast Wreath

I was able to pay £55 to FareShare Greater Manchester just before Christmas, thanks to the sale of patterns of the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath.

Thank you so much to everyone who has bought one! It was a thrill to see photos of wreaths which have been made so far out in the wild!

The pattern will remain in my Etsy shop and any money raised through its sale will continue to go to FareShare Greater Manchester.

Podcast News

The annual Christmas Special from Making Stitches Podcast made an appearance just before Christmas. It was lovely to be able to look back at my podcast year and share a few of the highlights.

It’s still available in case you’ve missed it. You can find it here.

Festive wanderings

We had a nice quiet Christmas and Boxing Day, followed by a lovely walk with family in Lancashire. We visited a route by the River Yarrow near Chorley. It was rather muddy under foot but we were dressed appropriately and really enjoyed our woodland wander.

It felt good to be moving again after a couple of rather sedentary days!

Even when there are no leaves left on the trees it was still a treat to get some ‘Vitamin Tree’.

The walk saw us zig-zag back and forth across the series of small foot bridges as we followed the river.

This bright orange fungus & green moss were real pops of colour on an otherwise grey day.

I believe this spot is a perfect place to enjoy bluebells in springtime. I’d love to come back and see them myself one day…

My word, that work did us all the world of good after a little bit too much chocolate & other naughty food!

And that just about wraps up this final Postcard from 2024. Thank you for stopping by and having a read and to anyone who’s a regular visitor to Making Stitches, thank you for your continued support.

Next year is a big one for me in terms of my blogging, I look forward to speaking more about that next year as this little site celebrates it’s 10th birthday – isn’t that crazy?!

As part of my celebration I’ve decided to release a new crochet pattern each month – a very relaxed crochet-along if you will. Watch this space – more will follow very soon!!

Until then, thank you again for sticking with me to the end of another year, I hope you enjoy your evening tonight however you plan to see in the New Year!

See you in 2025!

Lindsay x

A FareShare Festive Feast

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It’s 25th October, so that means it’s 2 months to go to Christmas! Apologies for using the C-word so soon but there is a very good reason for it….

Earlier this year, I started a new job. It was working for FareShare Greater Manchester an organisation which rescues tonnes of good-to-eat food from going to waste and then redistributes it to over 200 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester who are feeding those who need it most. It’s a truly amazing place filled with amazing people. You may have heard about it back in the pandemic when Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford came along to help the operation here with his Mum.

Last year, FareShare Greater Manchester rescued almost 2,000 tonnes of perfectly edible food from going to waste with the help of more than 21,000 volunteer hours given by our amazing team of volunteer supporters. That food went to more than 300 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, into parts of Derbyshire and Cheshire too and was the equivalent of 4.6 million meals which would have gone to landfill or some other form of waste management.

At a time when an increasing number of people are facing the difficult choice of whether to spend money on heating their homes or feeding themselves and their families, this work is needed more than ever.

I was so inspired by the things I see and hear about at work each day, that I wanted to do something special myself to help support that vital work, so I picked up my hook and yarn. I decided I had to make something food related and started thinking about Christmas food in particular. First I crocheted a sprout and perfected a design for it, then some pigs in blankets and before I knew it I had a whole crocheted Christmas dinner.

I then thought about what would be the classic Christmas decoration, and settled on a wreath. A wreath cover was made, the Christmas dinner was added and hey presto, the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath was born.

The next dilemma was how would I be able to make money for FareShare Greater Manchester with this wreath? It would take too long for me to make wreaths to sell, but I could sell the pattern and send the money raised from that to support the FareShare operation. So that is what I have done.

Supported very kindly by Jane Czaja, who has tech edited the pattern, and with the full support of FareShare Greater Manchester, I have launched the new pattern on sale in my Etsy shop today.

I would be so very grateful if you would help me spread the word about the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath on your social media channels and tell all your crocheting friends about it. I would, of course absolutely love it too if you would buy a copy of the pattern and make a wreath(s) yourself!

You can find the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath pattern for sale here.

If you would like to find out more about where the money I raise from the sale of this pattern will go, you can check out the FareShare Greater Manchester website and I took my microphone into work with me to record a Making Stitches Podcast episode all about FareShare and my wreath pattern, you can listen to that here.

Thank you so much for your time and for your support in this, I look forward to seeing how much we can raise for FareShare Greater Manchester together!

Lindsay x