Children’s hospice Easter chick knitting campaign
Over 550 chicks of the ‘woolly’ kind have flown the coop from Francis House Children’s Hospice based in Didsbury, South Manchester, after months of work by a dedicated team of 8 chicken knitting ladies. The knitted chickens complete with Cadbury creme egg, were then successfully sold for £1 in primary schools in the north west of England during the week before the Easter break. The figure raised this year was the best ever, with the proceeds of £650 going straight to the children’s hospice.
The idea came about 12 years ago after Jackie Hadfield, 64, from Radcliffe near Bury, a children’s special needs teacher and part time volunteer on the care team at Francis House, saw the pattern being knitted by the Vicar’s wife for the church bazaar. Jackie’s husband Graham, then a head teacher, was also raising awareness about the work Francis House through school assemblies, so they decided to take the chicks into the schools to see if they would help raise funds.
Jackie said “The chickens were proving so popular with the children that I was knitting hundreds. I needed help so I put out a call for people to either donate wool or get knitting. Amongst those who came to my rescue were ladies volunteering in the kitchen and on reception at Francis House.” The knitting skills are simple within the group, with everyone knitting a basic chick of yellow or lemon following the original pattern. One top tip for knitting a successful Easter chick is to try one of the Cadbury creme eggs for size, holding the chick by its head the egg shouldn’t fall out.
After a number of successful years at one primary school, the knitters spread their wings and move onto the next “We found the children were keeping their chicks from one year to the next so every few years we needed to find another school to support us”.
5 years ago, Jackie suffered with back problems and now has to knit lying down and is grateful for the continued support of her team of knitters. Topping the knitting charts this year was Margaret Mayne, 81, with 200 chicks.
200 chocolate crème eggs are donated by Costco and Tesco, with everything else provided by the ladies themselves. “It’s like spreading the word on the chicken wire when the supermarkets have got crème eggs on offer, we let each other know and there’s a buying frenzy to give our chicks an egg. If more people knit chicks for us perhaps Cadbury’s will donate some eggs too” Jackie said.
Chicks have found themselves in as far flung corners of the globe as Hong Kong with one church going gentleman buying one for his Grandson.
Jackie added “You like to knit but there aren’t always avenues for you to knit for. When I had to finish working due to back problems I still needed to feel I was doing something to support the hospice”.
If you would like to help knit chicks for the 2013 chicken run contact the Fundraising office on 0161 443 2200 or emai to request a pattern. For information on where to send your chicks visit