June 2023

Hello to all our lovely Tadcrafters’ team and supporters,

The sun has finally made an appearance and we’ve had some lovely warm days which have been far too pleasant to be inside sewing and knitting but I’m sure many of our volunteers will still be beavering away. The wood working, gardening and beekeeping groups all enjoy their activities a bit more al fresco so they are getting into their stride and making the most of some good weather. Please take a few minutes to catch up with what has been going on and some very exciting news.

News

Our biggest and really exciting news is that, thanks to all the efforts of our dedicated volunteers, we have been nominated and have reached the finals of the BBC Radio York Make a Difference Awards! The winners will be announced at an event on the 15^th of September and over the summer we will be visited, photographed and interviewed by Radio York for them to put together a presentation about what we do. You might want to think about hanging on to some good examples of a few items that you have made and that you are particularly proud of. Also, have a think about what things you have made as a joint effort that you would like to be associated with. We have some stiff competition but I’m sure we will be able to impress the judges.

In a separate activity to the award finals, what’s also really exciting is that we have been asked to put together a showcase of examples of our work which will be photographed, alongside any of our volunteers who would like to be, to go towards making a piece of artwork which will be permanently featured in Tadcaster. This will be a great way to record our activities.

Organisations don’t get recognised like this unless they are nominated or are brought to the attention of people who give out awards etc. There are lots of worthy winners as well as Tadcrafters in our community so please make sure you nominate someone whenever the opportunity arises such as for the Community awards | North Yorkshire Council which has a deadline of 11^th June! Categories are Best Community Group, Volunteer of the Year, and Caring for the environment.

The last month in summary:

Tadcrafters CIC announced as Finalists in the BBC Make a Difference Awards
Tadcrafters Queen Elizabeth I scarecrow “enthroned”
200m of bunting put up to celebrate the coronation
Tadcaster and Sherburn Crafters, TadGrafters, Gardening and Beekeeping sessions
61 baby hats given to the labour ward at York Hospital
6 large blankets and 4 large patchwork quilts to Martin House Children’s Hospice
53 heart-shaped cushions and matching drain bags, plus 44 pairs of little knitted hearts went off to St. James Hospital
34 bags (around 340kg) of surplus fabric taken to The Cone Exchange in Harrogate for them to sell or redistribute.
A bag of dress fabric and 1 baby blanket to an Afghan refugee who has recently had a baby
4 worry monsters to North Yorkshire Council Children’s Services
Took part in an initial meeting to establish us as a founding member of the Reuse Collective partnership across North Yorkshire

Please have a look at the calendar at the end of the newsletter for future events.

TadCrafters Tadcaster Group Update

Thank you to everyone who contributed towards the making of the fabulous Queen Elizabeth I scarecrow for the festival, and the bunting to celebrate the coronation. The weather was miserable and wet but she managed to survive the weekend remarkably well. The scarecrows that came top were amazing and certainly worthy winners.

The next drop-in session will be on Tuesday 13^th June. NBBecause of the school holiday clubs at The Barn our August session will be on a Friday, 11^th August.

Knitters/crocheters- We could still do with more twiddlemuffs (no metal bits please)and big blankets but if you would like a change, you could have a go at poppies in readiness for Remembrance day, and also forget-me-nots to help organisations supporting people living with dementia.

Sewing– We have a new outlet for Worry Monsters so will be putting some kits together for the next drop-in session.

For a full list of all our current projects and where to find instructions please see the list towards the end of this newsletter.

Beekeeping Group Update

Once again, the bees are challenging us as we learn more about the art of Beekeeping. The weather this Spring has not been good for bees. One of our hives didn’t fare too well over the winter and we thought it might have to be cleared. However, the bees did what they are supposed to do and are in the process of making a new queen (we have spotted a capped queen cell), so we will leave them for a few weeks. Hopefully, the queen will go out and mate and then come back to start building a new colony. The other hive has made a slow start but is now building gradually. We are checking the bees most weekends so if you would like to join us, just for a look or to help with regular inspections please contact us through the Tadcrafters email. tadcrafters@outlook.com.

TadGrafters Wood-working Group Update

TadGrafters have been helping-out the Beekeeping group by sterilising the spare bee brood box and a super and they have also been making new replacement frames (all bits of hive). The kennel for The Barn’s dog, Jig, is also progressing nicely.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are going to be working with us on items such as bug hotels, hedgehog lodges, and bird boxes to support some of their local interest groups. If you would like to know more about what the wood-working group does, please email us or pop in to the next session.

The Grafters are next due to meet on Weds 14^th June 1-3pm at The Barn. NB there will be no August TadGrafters meeting.

Gardening Group update

The gardening group met again at the Tadcaster Primary Academy in May and made a massive difference in a couple of hours. Our next visit there is on Friday 2nd June between 3pm and 6pm and everyone is welcome to come along even if just for a look around.

The Quaker burial ground is also looking good with the wild flowers coming through. Pop down there any time for a peek.

If anyone would like to join our group evening visit to the Woodmeadow at Escrick on Friday 23rd June at 6pm there are still a few places available.

If you are not already a member of the gardening group and would like to get involved please contact Sue T at tadcraftersst@outlook.com and contact tadcrafters@outlook.com to be put on the mailing list.

Sherburn Crafters Update

The next Sherburn Crafters meeting is on Thursday 22^nd June from 11am to 1pm at Sherburn Old Girls School. Projects and tasks are very similar to those from the main, Tadcaster, sessions but it is a smaller group. You are welcome to attend both if you wish. Session times over July and August will be unaffected by the school holidays.

If you would like to joint the group just turn up at the session and email tadcrafters:outlook.com to ask to be added to the Sherburn mailing list.

List of Current TadCrafters projects

We welcome anyone new who would like to join us but ask you to please stick to our current projects as other items can be hard to find homes for. We need to focus on a few projects at a time so we can support everyone, maintain our standards and supply items that are wanted by worthy causes, in appropriate quantities. We are able to supply materials locally for free at our drop-in sessions and instructions are provided by email or by links if provided below; if you need help, please ask!

Sewing– supplied in kit form at the drop-off sessions

Personal effects bags for hospice patients and bereaved families at St. Leonard’s and St. Gemma’s
Syringe driver bags for hospitals and hospices
Drawstring book bags for the Banana box toy project
Liners, shields and drawstring bags for YorKits feminine hygiene kits
Heart-shaped cushions and drain bags for breast surgery patients
Tombola items- miscellaneous kits

Knitting/crochet– yarn and needles available at the drop-off sessions

Twiddlemuffs for people living with dementia. (NB no metal parts, and ideally have tape for a name to be added and a Tadcrafters label.) https://www.qvh.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Twiddlemuffs-knitting-instructions.pdf
Baby hats. Please ask for the pattern by email.
Forget-me-nots to support dementia charities
Poppies for Remembrance Day
Knitted tombola prizes
Larger Blankets only (between 3 x 4 to 5 x 8 feet) for Martin House Children’s Hospice
No Shawls/wraps, hats, scarves or hot water bottle covers over the summer, thank you.

Other projects

If you can’t knit or sew there are non-sewing tasks such as threading drawstrings and decorating twiddlemuffs that are really useful to the team, please ask.
Picking-up/dropping-off supplies for people who are unable to make the sessions. Team up with someone who cannot drive or has other commitments on session days.
Join our woodwork, gardening, or bee-keeping groups.
If you are interested in doing something to help tackle climate change, however small, follow the Sustainable Tadcaster Facebook page. Please get in touch if we can support you to kick-start a new initiative such as running a repair café, library of things, circular economy or recycling scheme etc.

Wish list and other ways to help

A huge thank you to the many people who have donated many, many things to us and have kept us going. If you have some surplus that you would like donate to us please be aware that we are short of storage space so please try to stick as close as possible to our wish list, or speak to us first. Smaller donations can be made at The Barn, ideally at one of the Tuesday drop-in sessions. NB fabric that is only fit for rags can be shredded and recycled. You can put it directly into the collecting point outside the Salvation Army and save us a job. We cannot use worn, dirty or smoky clothes, fabric or yarn.

New or clean, nearly new polyester/cotton or other lightweight woven fabric
New or nearly new knitting yarn. Any colour or weight but double knitting would be great.
Items, especially hand-crafted ones, suitable for our tombola stalls
New or clean, nearly new winceyette (brushed cotton) sheets/fabric for Yorkits
“Gently worn” bras and new pants for “Smalls for All” http://smallsforall.org/
Vintage fabric, equipment and haberdashery *

*Any items not suitable or surplus to our own use we give or sell to people who really appreciate them, whilst also raising funds for our projects.

If you would like to make a financial donation/direct debit to help us do what we do you can do so on the Local Giving website which can be found at: https://localgiving.org/tadcrafters
Please share our social media posts and encourage others to join in.
Sign up to Easyfundraising to raise money for us at no extra cost to you when you shop online, https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/tadcrafterscic/
Visit our Etsy store to purchase top-quality fabric remnants that are surplus to our requirements https://www.etsy.com/shop/tadcrafters/ If you live in Tadcaster, contact us direct for a discount. NB these items are not available for viewing at The Barn sessions.

Keep in touch

If you need to get in touch with us, and need a response, please use email. This is to protect your personal details and because messages and conversations on social media become lost. Someone will get back to you but it might not be straight away due to other commitments. The Tadcrafters Chat Group or Sherburn Tadcrafters Chat Group is a great way to keep in touch with other Tadcrafters and be inspired. You can also follow the Tadcrafters Page on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@Tadcrafters).

To be put on the emailing list/s (wherever you live) please request it by emailing tadcrafters@outlook.com and add us to your list of contacts so we don’t end up in your junk. There are usually only one or two emails a month.

If you would like to be kept up to date about any of the specific group activities please email us and ask to be put on the relevant group mailing list and your email will be forwarded to the group leader.

See you soon, Su.

Directors Tadcrafters CIC: Su Morgan, Lynne Howard Sandra Levitt and Sue Tennant

Tadcrafters Calendar

Please check the monthly newsletters for updates to these dates, times and venues

Date	Event	Time	Location
Fri 2nd June	Gardening	3-6pm	Tadcaster Primary Academy
Tues 13^th Jun	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds14th Jun	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 22nd Jun	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School
Sat 24^th June	YorKits	10am-12pm	Manor Academy, Poppleton, York
Tues 11^th Jul	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 12^th Jul	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 27th Jul	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School TBC
Fri 11^th Aug*	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 9^th Aug*	~~TadGrafters~~	~~1-3pm~~	No session
Thurs 24th Aug	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School TBC
Tues 12^th Sep	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 13^th Sept	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 28^th Sept	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School
Tues 10^th Oct	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds11^th Oct	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 26^th Oct	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School
Tues 14^th Nov	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 15^th Nov	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 23^rd Nov	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School
Tues 12^th Dec	Drop-in workshop	10am- 3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 13^th Dec	TadGrafters	1-3pm	The Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 28^th Dec	Sherburn Crafters	11-1pm	Sherburn Old Girls School TBC*

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