{"id":6389,"date":"2023-11-13T22:20:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T11:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/?p=6389"},"modified":"2023-11-13T22:20:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T11:20:19","slug":"central-coast-seniors-knit-natter-elsies-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/central-coast-seniors-knit-natter-elsies-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Coast Seniors Craft Comfort with Knit & Natter for Elsie\u2019s Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo: Ellen has already finished making a few squares for Elsies Project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With knitting needles in hand, in-home care provider Home Instead\u2019s Central Coast and Newcastle clients and caregivers have been busy knitting and chatting as they create comforting blankets to gift patients at Elsie\u2019s Project \u2013 a 12-bed palliative care unit at Gosford Hospital and soon-to-open in mid-2024 Wyong Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight clients and their caregivers attended the inaugural Knit & Natter event last month at Home Instead\u2019s Newcastle office. The new social event has been created as an extension of the office\u2019s existing monthly Enhance event luncheons for caregivers and clients to foster social connection and eliminate loneliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompanionship and care are at the centre of what Home Instead does and we work hard to ensure our clients feel socially connected through our organised events,\u201d Home Instead Community Engagement Manager, Samantha Farham, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs our client attendee numbers at Enhance have grown to full capacity, we asked our clients who attended the luncheons what other ideas, interests, or suggestions they had for future activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom their suggestions we designed a new social events calendar that now includes three new activities to accompany our monthly luncheons \u2013 Knit & Natter, Games Day and Arts & Craft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May this year, Home Instead donated $10,000 to Elsie\u2019s Project, and as part of the provider\u2019s on-going support for the project, the Knit & Natter knitters were asked if they would like to knit or crochet 12-inch squares that could eventually be made into single-bed blankets for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samantha said everyone was very excited to be continuing to help this great cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome brought knitting, others crochet, and everyone enjoyed a Devonshire tea. A few clients also cheekily gave their caregivers strict homework on finishing their squares,\u201d Samantha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe even had one of our clients, Margaret Wood, and her caregiver on hand for any questions or help with knitting or crocheting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMargaret is famous at our Enhance event luncheons for gifting knitted coat hangers, beanies, and tissue holders to other clients. She knits at nighttime as it keeps her hands active and helps with her arthritis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIf I didn\u2019t knit every night I would not be able to use my hands and I enjoy it,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow client, Josie Rutherford, thoroughly enjoyed the Knit & Natter event. \u201cIt was a lovely day and one that brings people together,\u201d Josie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was such a great success, Samantha said, they had booked in two November dates and one in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was lovely to see our clients come together, socialise, meet new people, and make new friends plus there were a lot of giggles,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone who attended has asked to come to the next one. We can\u2019t wait to see how many blankets we can make for Elsie\u2019s Project.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Ellen has already finished making a few squares for Elsies Project With knitting needles in hand, in-home care provider Home Instead\u2019s Central Coast and Newcastle clients and caregivers have…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"series":[115],"class_list":["post-6389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-events","series-coffee-with-a-coastie"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/11\/Ellen-has-already-finished-making-a-few-squares-for-Elsies-Project.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/feed\/podcast\/coffee-with-a-coastie","embedCode":"

Central Coast Seniors Craft Comfort with Knit & Natter for Elsie\u2019s Project<\/a><\/blockquote>