Hatton builder lends a hand to charity yarn bombing in Stratford

Andy Waterworth, founder of AWB Builders in Hatton, supplied man power and scaffolding to the project run by Goodwill and Growth for Africa, in which more than 1,000 crocheted yarn squares knitted by women in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in South Africa have been fixed to ‘Remembering Trees’ at Bancroft Gardens in Stratford.

People are invited to sponsor a yarn square in exchange for £5 and they will be able to nominate the name of a person to whom they would like to pay tribute, whose name will be posted on a board next to the trees.

The funds raised will go towards helping people living in poverty in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as well as Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

Charity director Sarah Hodgson recruited a large team of volunteers to carry out the adornment of the trees, but she was lacking the professional expertise required to set it up.

Speaking before the project was set up at the weekend, Andy said: “We’re delighted to help out with the yarn-bombing because it’s a great cause to get involved in - especially helping the young children over there who we know don’t have much at Christmas.”

Sarah said: “We’re so grateful to Andy to offer to help us out because it’ll mean we can complete the yarn bombing in a few hours and it will look spectacular.”

She is hoping to raise £5,000. The yarn squares will be up until the second week of January, after which they will be assembled into blankets for those living in poverty, both in UK and Africa.

A celebration of the project is taking place at Bancroft Gardens tomorrow (Saturday), with free performances by community groups.

To find out more, visit www.gaga-uk.org