About our Bee's Blankets for Crowborough campaign »
Our Story
What a strange turn of events it has been! Before March 2020 none of us knew each other, but now we are a small group that made and handed out literally thousands of masks, raised thousands of pounds and gave away multiple handmade items to volunteers, care workers, care homes and charities – all within nine months of 2020. Since then we have continued to raise funds and make items for those that need them.
March 2020
The beginning of the Covid Pandemic – lockdown – furlough – none of us knew what was about to unfold!
The lack of masks and PPE was a major point of discussion – nationally.
Maisie, furloughed from work began making masks at home and popped a post on Facebook offering these in exchange for a donation to NHS Charities Together – or freely for any key workers. The Facebook post was picked up by Alison, who was also furloughed and looking to break up the boredom … and so it all began!
Our masks continued to be offered via Facebook and soon we were working all hours to try to meet the growing need.
March 2020
April 2020
Quite simply, inundated with requests and a growing list – help was definitely needed! Gradually, via Facebook, requests for help were posted and our group slowly grew. One of the first ladies to join us was Karon, who had already been working hard with a separate group involved in making scrubs.
Fabric, elastic, thread and patterns were distributed to each new member on a ‘distanced doorstep drop’ basis to honour Pandemic restrictions and stay safe.
Social media was definitely our friend! None of us knew each other and, with the Covid pandemic lockdown it was the only way to ‘meet’, chat and organise!
Admin, as well as sewing, meant there was very little down time – and little did we know how long this was to continue for!
Elastic shortage
During this time and for the next few weeks – elastic became very hard to find – across the UK similar groups were set up, with people everywhere sewing masks and needing around 30cm of elastic for each mask. It doesn’t take much imagination to think about the volume of this stuff that was required!
April 2020
May 2020
Our Name
We decided it was time to name the group – wishing to keep a local connection with the name, many options were considered, including: Sew 4 Crowborough, Sherlock Town Stitchers, Sherlock’s Stitching Ninjas, Sewing Sherlocks, Sherlock Sewing Angels, Crowborough Sewing Angels, Crowborough Sewing Sherlocks, Crowborough Sewing Ninjas. On 12th May, Sewing Crow-Bees was chosen.
May 2020
June 2020
We became busier & busier – it was really crazy times.
Distribution
By mid June, so much energy and time was taken up by taking individual requests for masks, the distribution of the work and then the arranging of collection/delivery of them to those that had asked. This was becoming more and more significant as the requests were from individuals and families rather than one large request from a care home or charity. Then we came up with the idea of asking local stores if they would mind holding stock for people to come in and ‘purchase’ so that we could ‘bulk’ drop and make available a choice of sizes, styles and colours/fabrics of masks.
Our thanks go to W.E. Cro & Son, Guest’s Shoes, Jarvis Brew, Jarvis Brook Bakers, Fieldbuss, Wardrobe and Banfield who all kindly took up our call and displayed and sold our products to the Crowborough community. Trying to keep up with demand remained difficult – no sooner had we delivered to the stores then the stock would evaporate!
Huge thanks also goes to Millennium Print who printed our posters, label inserts for packages and plastic for production of the window face masks. No request was ever turned down and they gave so generously throughout.
Thanks also go to who Baldwin Boxall provided us with thousands of the resealable plastic bags for us to package the masks during the pandemic – essential for the safe and hygenic distribution.
June 2020
July 2020
We were so proud when we heard that we had been selected as ‘heros’ as part of the ‘Wealden Hero 2020’ awards. The presentation took place on The Green with Nus Ghani MP presenting the awards. This was the first time that the ladies were able to put faces to names – all at a distance, of course, as the only means of contact had been by social media and doorstop drops! Jarvis Brew generously provided us with fruit smoothies (it was a very hot day!) and cake to celebrate the occasion.
Throughout 2020 (and beyond) the people of Crowborough have been (and still are) amazing, they have answered our urgent appeals for fabric – and there has been many of these! Also requests for sewing thread, elastic, buttons and ribbon as our product range expanded to include ear savers, headbands with buttons, bags for masks and scrunchies were answered.
July 2020
Aug/Sept
It was proving to be a very hot summer, but the work did not tail off at all – in fact we were all working days and evenings, cutting, pinning, sewing, ironing, packing & distributing. However, although exhausting and stressful at times, it was incredibly rewarding work. When a ‘machine down’ was reported, it was quite an event!
Fabric
On occasions we had a fabric surplus and this would be reported to a group of ‘volunteer riders’ who were collecting and delivering fabrics and completed items between points across the UK – but this is another story about an incredible group of volunteers that popped up during the pandemic.
Aug/Sept
Pop-up Stalls
Another way to distribute masks was found by the way of organising the occasional stall in the town. We only did a few of these and were overwhelmed by the amount we raised for Friends of Crowborough Hospital (FoCH). This was our chosen charity from June onwards as they had needed to cancel their main fundraiser, their very popular annual fete. In total, between June and late December, we reached our target of just over £15,000 for the charity. We were absolutely delighted to achieve our target – celebrating only via social media due to the ongoing pandemic!
Pop-up Stalls
Oct/Nov 2020
In October 2020 we also followed a suggestion regarding fundraising for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal. We put a request out for poppy fabric and red & black wool and began making poppy-themed products. Within a couple of weeks we had enough product to set up our first stall – we did two in total – one week apart, got absolutely soaking wet on one of these! However, amazingly, we raised in excess of £2,000 for the cause!
Oct/Nov 2020
Dec 2020
By mid December we still had not stopped – the requests had been constant! It was decided to have a few quiet weeks – in principal – although the work carried on quietly in the background. Thankfully we did have a short space of respite and were able to take a bit of a break over the festive season – pack away the sewing machines to uncover the dining tables and tidy away for a short while!!
Dec 2020
Jan-Mar 2021
What Next? Wow…okay..!
2021 dawned and the ladies began to ask what was next. Ideas were put forward for different product ideas and patterns sourced. Within a couple of days of starting on our new idea, a request dropped in – could we make scrub sets and wash bags? Well, we had not done these – although many other groups had – but we thought ‘why not give it a go?’. Expecting the request to be for 30 or 40 sets – which would have been challenging – only 10 of us, no patterns or suitable fabric – we agreed to try. When we were then told there was in excess of 400 members of staff – well, you can imagine the surprise! We laughed and then thought, okay, how do we do this?
Good old Facebook – we put out an appeal for help and for sheeting etc. Wow! What an amazing response! Within a few days we became a group of 30, within a week we had a pattern – printed and distributed, also sacks of sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases landing on our doorsteps! It was another insanely manic time! However, within a matter of weeks we produced, sorted and packed over 350 sets for Aspens in Tunbridge Wells!
Jan-Mar 2021
Spring/Summer 2021
We continued in our campaign to raise funds for FoCH, we held pop up stall events in May, June & July and helped organise a craft fair on hospital grounds in August.
Making & Giving
We began a mission to make items to give freely to local care homes, charities and other volunteer groups. Items like aprons, twiddle mitts, twiddle mats, walking frame bags, storage pouches, face wipes, eye masks, syringe driver bags, neckerchief ‘bibs’, handwarmers, lap blankets and more. This we continue to do and welcome requests for products with a cause in mind. Many local residencies and volunteer groups have benefitted and will continue to do so. Please don’t be afraid to ask if you think we can help you.
Spring/Summer 2021
Autumn/Winter 2021
Town Decoration
November 2021 saw us introducing a bit of ‘yarn bombing’ to the town! Postbox toppers and a wall of poppies for purchase/donation towards The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
Autumn/Winter 2021
Moving Forward
We remain a small group (purposefully) and are continually adding to our range of products – learning new skills and keeping the ‘Bees’ busy and challenged along the way! Sorting, storing and arranging everything has its own challenges too – but we continue to take all this onboard and looking forward to the future.
Moving Forward
