UPDATE from Local Co-ordinators:
"Both Kathy and I would be delighted to receive quilts from people wishing donate to project Linus. Thank you for highlighting Project Linus South Herts and South Bucks.
We donate to many organizations and hospitals in the area of South Herts and South Bucks. To name a few these are;
Mencap, Wycombe refugees, Watford Women's center, Action for Children, Steve Sinnot Foundation, Stoke Manderville Hospital, Watford General Hospital Neo Natal and Children's wards, The Air Ambulance Corp.
The request in the original article (see below) was focused around the John Radcliffe Hospital. If people wish to donate to the John Radcliffe unfortunately it is not our area.
The Co-ordinator for Oxfordshire area is Anicatt@yahoo.co.uk phone 01993-709889.
Many thanks again for highlighting Project Linus.
Sue Collison
Project Linus
Area Co-ordinator for South Herts and South Bucks.
Susan Collison
collisonsusan@hotmail.com
01923 220993
07923 368321
Kathy Osborne
kathy@quiltstalbans.com
07831 439230
Oxford area contact is Ani Catt;
anicatt@yahoo.co.Uk
01993709889
............
Quilts needed for Project Linus
Are you a crafts person who can help to create quilts?
We have several new contacts requesting them. Schools, paediatric critical care, mental health counsellors and childcare services, to name a few, as well as our existing network with fostering families, Ukrainian families and everyone else.
So – all the quilts you may make will be very very welcome and will go out to the children usually within a week of me getting them! And of course – the little teddies are a huge hit!
I had an email from the critical care / special care baby unit at the JR and they are requesting quilts for incubator covers again. These measure between 36" to 40" wide, 50" to 56" long and they have asked if the backing could be quite dark instead of the usual baby pastels as this helps enormously with the light reduction on the babies.
They are happy for them to be backed with fleece and without batting if preferred but they still need to be quilted and finished well to stand up to the vigorous laundering at the hospital.
Staff at the Special Care Baby Unit have also requested pretty breast pump bags again, which are simple, unquilted shoulder bags to carry the usual breast pump paraphernalia. If you would like to make a few of these that would be great. I don't have a pattern as such, but they have asked for finished sizes at 14" x 11" with either one or two straps at about 36" We've found that open straps work well so they can be tied to size
The Paediatric Critical Care Unit at the JR are another new addition to our outlet network. They have requested quilts for all ages and also pairs of 4" knitted bonding squares. These help settle the babies and also help Mum with milk flow when the usual breastfeeding routine is interrupted. Mum wears a square next to her skin and baby has the other in the crib, then they swap over. Mum's scent settles the baby and the baby scent helps with the letdown of the breast milk. Win win!
As a quick reminder, size guides for any other quilts are:
- Baby and early years – 30" to 40"
- Primary years – 40" to 45"
- Teens – 45" to single bed size
Thank you all so much for supporting Project Linus, the quilts really are much needed and greatly appreciated.
You can find out much more about Project Linus as well as sourcing patterns, here
Buckinghamshire hospitals are also involved in this project. To liaise specifically with Project Linus coordinators for Bucks, please feel free to contact:
Susan Collison
collisonsusan@hotmail.com
01923 220993
07923 368321
Kathy Osborne
kathy@quiltstalbans.com
07831 439230
Stella Davis
