Easter fund-raiser!

The knitters at Cumbernauld Old are busy again and this time are making a variety of Items for Easter – chickens, rabbits, ducks, hedgehogs, mice, bumblebees and ladybirds, all containing either a Cadbury’s Creme Egg® or a Cadbury’s Caramel Egg®.
Each comes in a cellophane bag – a bargain for an Easter surprise at £1.
There are also some beehives covering a Terry’s Chocolate Orange® and they cost £3.

If you would like to order one (or more!) please let us know here or by phoning Elizabeth on (01236) 726451. Your support makes a difference to Cumbernauld Old, so thank-you very much!

More poppies needed!

Cumbernauld Old Parish Church has been thrilled by the number of knitted poppies handed in so far for our Remembrance project. However, although we have received about 9,000 poppies to date, we still need more.

We are currently in the process of attaching the poppies to the cargo netting and we don’t quite have enough to complete our display. So we’re asking whether people could please just do a few more and hand them in. We can then finish the sewing-on of the poppies.

Also, for those who have been knitting the poppies and sewing them on, we are having a film crew from Reporting Scotland coming to the Church on Friday 26th October at 2pm. They’re doing a feature on WW1 remembrance. All those who have knitted, crocheted or sewed the poppies are invited to come along to the Church, knitting needles and crochet hooks in hand, so we have a really good turn out for the film crew.

Thank you!

Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Baby Bank

Now that Cumbernauld Old’s support for the Life for African Mothers project has come to a natural conclusion, we thought it would now be appropriate to support new mothers and their children here in Cumbernauld through Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Baby Bank.

From now on, there will be a box in the vestibule of the church and the back of the hall at Balloch for donations. The ‘bank’ would appreciate anything suitable for babies or children up to 7 years of age, e.g.

• Nappies
• Baby toiletries
• Blankets, towels
• Wipes

Clothing doesn’t have to be new but should be in great condition and freshly laundered. Hand knits would also be appreciated.

You can find out more about the Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Baby Bank on their Facebook page. It is a project of Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Care, Scottish Charity SCO47347

Easter Appeal thanks

Cumbernauld Old Parish Church would like to thank everyone who supported our annual Easter Egg Appeal. There was a huge response to our appeal for people to donate chocolate Easter Eggs for distribution to needy children through our local food bank. A whole car-load of eggs was collected and it was both wonderful and humbling to see such a generous response from our congregation.

Thanks, too, to everyone who hand-knitted ‘chicks’ over the last few weeks and those who provided the small chocolate cream- or caramel-filled eggs to go inside them. They were an amazing ‘hit’ with everyone who saw them and supply barely matched demand! By Easter Day we reckon that about £87 was raised by this fantastic idea.

Life for African Mothers update

Earlier in the year we encouraged people to knit baby clothes for mothers in Africa who otherwise would struggle to keep their new-born babies warm when they leave hospital. The response from the congregation was tremendous and we have now had a note from Angela Gorman, the CEO of the Life for African Mothers charity, which reads:

“Just a little message to let you know that your donation of baby clothes is being shared between Liberia, with a shipment being collected tomorrow, the Congo, with a van coming to pick up a shipment by the end of this week, while another shipment is going to orphanages in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria where newborn babies are abandoned because of poverty. The beautiful quilts are going to the orphanage as the babies will have them with them on a longer-term basis – their very own quilt! Thank you again and very best wishes, Angela.”

Life for African Mothers is incorporated as a Charity: No. 1140183 – http://lifeforafricanmothers.org/

Fill a suitcase for Malawi

Calling all knitters again! You all did such a great job in producing beautiful garments for our “Life for African Mothers Project” that we want you to get those needles busy again.

The daughters of one of our members are going to Malawi next year as part of their school programme. They have been allocated an extra suitcase allowance and tasked with filling it with baby clothes to take out with them.

When Helen Urquhart heard about the tremendous success of our previous project, she asked if we would be willing to help the girls fill that suitcase. Baby jackets, cardigans, hats and bootees of any pattern or colour would be much appreciated.

Wool will be available shortly – keep an eye on the vestibule (or at the back of the Hall at Balloch). In the meantime, if you have any questions, just speak to Elizabeth (726451) or Ivy (728063).

Life for African Mothers

A HUGE vote of thanks to everyone at Cumbernauld Old who responded to our appeal for hand-knits and baby clothes for the Life for African Mothers charity.
The appeal is now closed and we have exceeded all our expectations: thanks to everyone who helped we filled 12 large boxes full of absolutely beautiful baby items, not six as we had initially hoped for. We are currently investigating ways of having these shipped to the charity’s base in Bristol – free of charge, of course!
Thanks, too, to Elizabeth Snedden and Anne Morrison for all their efforts in setting up this appeal.

Life for African Mothers

Knitters in the congregation are invited to help themselves to wool from the basket in the vestibule at church or at the back of the hall in Balloch to knit items for baby bundles for this charity. Any form of baby clothes would be appreciated – don’t worry about dark colours – or six-inch squares to make blankets. More information can be found in our church newsletter. Thanks a million to Margaret Robinson for her kind donation and to Elizabeth Snedden and Anne Morrison.

Read more about this initiative at http://lifeforafricanmothers.org/knit-save/
“Life for African Mothers is incorporated as a Charity: No. 1140183”