Hello to all our lovely Tadcrafters’ team and supporters,

The nights are drawing in now so it’s the time of year to snuggle down inside with a good sewing, knitting or other craft project.  As you know, our volunteers are busy all year round.  Please read on to find out what we have planned to keep our volunteers busy; this is a brief summary of what we got up to during September:

  • Received a “Highly Commended” in the BBC Make a Difference Awards
  • Received a “Highly Commended” from North Yorkshire Council Community Awards
  • 44 baby hats and 4 twiddlemuffs to York Hospital
  • 60 drawstring bags and the first 15 Christmas stockings to Spirit of Christmas
  • 286 “gently worn” bras to Smalls for All
  • 7 worry monsters, to a Play Therapist at Worcester Snoezelen.
  • Gardeners sowed QBG with wildflower seeds
  • 10 bags to Second Chance Ostomy,
  • 38 drawstring bags and 37 Christmas stockings to Spirit of Christmas
  • TadGrafters session and dog kennel completed
  • Tadcaster drop-in session
  • Gardening at Ingleby Drive Pumping Station
  • Featured in the August/September issue of the Tadcaster Echo

 News

Lynne, Sue, Sara and I had a lovely afternoon tea at the BBC Make a Difference Awards and got to meet lots of BBC presenters and amazing community organisations. Although we didn’t win our category, we did receive a “Highly Commended” award and we have also been awarded “Highly Commended” in the North Yorkshire Council Community Awards both of which recognise the amazing work our volunteers do to support the local community, so well-done folks!

As it is a wonderful thing to be given an award, I’d like to open up nominations for the 2023 TadBAFTA Awards. All you need to do to nominate another Tadcrafters volunteer is to email tadcrafters@outlook.com by Sunday 8th October 5pm with

  • the name of the person you are nominating
  • why you think they deserve an award (ie what have they done to support Tadcrafters projects) in no more than 100 words
  • what the letters BAFTA should stand for in relation to this award (optional)

The winner will be announced at the AGM on Tuesday 10th October. Lynne was a very worthy winner last year but there are lots of people who do amazing things that ought to be recognised. There’s not long to do this so don’t forget, and make someone’s day by nominating them.

If you didn’t manage to make the TAD-ah! photo-shoot on Saturday 16th September and you would like to be included in the artwork that Christopher Tipping is working on then please get in touch with me to see if we can get you another opportunity, Iknow there were a number of key people who couldn’t make it.  Chris is particularly keen to get as many Tadcrafters as possible, ideally with things you have made.  Thank you to everyone who went along on the 16th.

The work of volunteers is extremely valuable to the community. Local organisation, Up for Yorkshire, is currently undertaking a survey to find out what is the best way that volunteers can be supported and what can be done to encourage more people to volunteer.  If you have 5 minutes to spare they would be really grateful if you could complete this very easy questionnaire:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/UPFORVOLUNTEERING

We will be going back to Farsley Scrap Store on 7th October and to the Hebden Bridge Rag Market on 21st October to sell some of our surplus fabric.   If you fancy a trip to the Scrap Store at Sunny bank Mills in Farsley, where the Sewing Bee is filmed, you’ll find lots of crafty supplies, artistic inspiration, and a refill area.  There’s free parking close by too https://scrapstuff.co.uk/ 

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

 TadCrafters Tadcaster Group Update

We are hoping to re-decorate the War Memorial in Tadcaster again in preparations for Remembrance Day so if you would like to make some poppies, please ensure that you finish-off and bring what you have made to the October Drop-in sessions. We hope to be able to give some to the Royal British Legion for donations to their poppy appeal too.

Please have a break from knitting baby hats for a while as the hospital has plenty for the time being.  If you would like to make hat and scarf sets (adult and child but not baby), hot water bottle covers for the November or December drop-in session as a deadline or some ever-popular twiddlemuffs, that would be great.

The next Tadcrafters drop-in session will be Tuesday 10th October. We will be joined by Dr Vicki Pugh, a researcher from York St. John University and a specialist in working with communities.  She will be finding out all about what we do as part of her work on the Sustainable Tadcaster initiative.

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

 TadGrafters Wood-working Group Update

At the last session the Grafters finished off and installed a dog kennel for a very happy Jig at The Barn. The next project is to make bat boxes for Andy at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to give to their volunteer groups working on their initiatives. If you would like to help, or just come and see what the woodworkers do, just pop along to a session.  You don’t need to bring anything with you.

The Grafters are next due to meet on Weds 11th October 1-3pm at The Barn. 

 Gardening Group update

Tadcrafters gardeners finally got lucky with the weather and had a few rain-free days that enabled us to mow and scarify the central area on the lower level of the Quaker Burial Ground in preparation for sowing a wild flower meadow seed mix. We had great advice and assistance from Andy Steele of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who also kindly provided some additional yellow rattle seed which is an essential ingredient in establishing a wildflower meadow. We have our fingers firmly crossed that we will see some good results next year and in subsequent years.

As we had some seed left over we used it to enhance the area around the pumping station at the bottom of Ingleby Drive so, hopefully along with some more sunflowers, look out for that next year too.

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.

 Beekeeping Group Update

In September we started the process of “over Wintering” for the bees. We have treated them for varroa mite and started feeding them liquid syrup.  They will turn this into honey for their stores over winter. It helps them get through the winter and will hopefully give them a good start next spring.  In October we will continue to “tuck them in”, by adding a mouse guard to the front of the hive. This prevents the hives being used over Winter by mice as a lovely warm home with a built-in food supply.  Then all we have to do is a quick check over Winter and give them some solid sugar fondant to keep them going.  Then we take a rest and start planning for next year! If you are interested in beekeeping and would maybe like to join the team, we recommend you investigate the training on offer with Barkston Ash or Leeds beekeepers.  Check out their websites to see what training they offer which generally only happens in winter/spring. It’s not compulsory to do the training to join our group but those who have done it have found it really useful.

If you would like to join us, just for a look or to help with regular inspections please contact us on tadcrafters@outlook.com.

 Sherburn Crafters Update

Unfortunately, there was no drop-in session in September due to other commitments. The next session will be Thursday 26th October.

We meet on the fourth Thursday each month at the Old Girls School which is a great venue.  See the dates in calendar below.

If you would like to join 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 Hospices
  • 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 (in sessions)
  • Draught excluders (in sessions)
  • Tombola items- miscellaneous kits

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

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 donation or supplies for people who are unable to make the sessions. You could maybe 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 positive 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, recycling or other circular economy 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 We cannot use worn, dirty or smoky clothes, fabric or yarn.  Fabric that is only fit for rags can be put directly into the collecting point outside the Salvation Army and save us a job. They have their own facilities to shred and recycle fabrics.  We welcome:
  • 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
  • Spectacles for Specsort who take them to people in  developing countries
  • “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 stored at The Barn or available for viewing at sessions.
  • Support our campaign to find a place of our own. If you know of a local business that could provide us with sponsorship or free space that we could use to store goods and run workshops from please put them in touch with us.

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, (and Tadcrafters Sales page) on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In 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

Tadcrafters Calendar

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

DateEventTimeLocation
Sat 7th OctScrap stall10am- 3pmSCRAP, Sunnybank Mills, Farsley
Tues 10th OctDrop-in workshop10am- 3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Tues 10th OctAGM12.30-1pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Weds11th OctTadGrafters1-3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Sat 21st OctRag Market10-4pmTown Hall, Hebden Bridge
Thurs 26th OctSherburn Crafters11-1pmSherburn Old Girls School
Sat 28th OctYorkits workshop10-12pmArt Room at Hartrigg Oaks, New Earswick, York
Tues 14th NovDrop-in workshop10am- 3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 15th NovTadGrafters1-3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 23rd NovSherburn Crafters11-1pmSherburn Old Girls School
Sat 25th NovYorkits workshop10-12pmArt Room at Hartrigg Oaks, New Earswick, York
Sun 3rd DecChristmas Market10am- 3pmKirkgate, Tadcaster
Weds 6th DecYorkits fundraising stall and display9.30am 12pmTesco Askham Bar
Tues 12th DecDrop-in workshop10am- 3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Weds 13th DecTadGrafters1-3pmThe Barn, Tadcaster
Thurs 28th Dec*Sherburn Crafters11-1pmSherburn Old Girls School TBC*