Cambridge St John cadets with the blanket their division made for Operation Cover-Up. They are (back, from left) Ciara Claridge, TJ Udy, Jack Redpath and Kathryn Cowell; (middle from left) Daisy Claridge, Xavier Claridge, Abigail Ryan, and Eloise Claridge; and (front from left) Isobel Roberts and Michael Rix. Missing from the photo due to illness was Sarah Rix and Jaide Faire-Cheatham.
Cambridge St John youth members presented Operation Cover-Up with a colourful blanket they had crocheted for children living in orphanages in Eastern Europe.
The blanket then went on view at Operation Cover-Up’s August display at the Cambridge Baptist Church before being shipped overseas with hundreds of other knitted and crocheted items made by locals.
Karena Rix, one of the managers of the Cambridge St John Youth Programmes, said most of the cadets had never crocheted before.
“It took them two full terms to complete the blanket, roughly about six months,” she said. “They all contributed to it in some way, either making squares to a specified size, or joining them up.”
Karena said the project effectively fulfilled two St John youth briefs – one was to work towards a hobbies badge, and the other to do something for someone else, something that aligned with core St John values.
“We’d like to do more projects like this. It is important for our youth members to be seen in our community as doing things for others.”
The blanket was presented on July 23 to local Operation Cover-Up organisers, Donna Dillon and her parents Dennys and Pat Smith. The cadets were also told about what Operation Cover-Up did and watched a video of children in Eastern Europe receiving their blankets.
