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Wrap With Love

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From Margaret Hobson

Our knitters and crocheters have been very busy making squares and completed wraps increasing our total of wraps by another 10 wraps to 1454.

A Good News Story by Lesley Walker:

During the Christmas/New Year period I heard that “Overstock” – a variety store in the Belrose Super Centre was closing down and everything store wide was 50% off. This store always has a great selection of colours of the yarn we use for the Wrap With Love blankets at a reasonable price, so I couldn’t help myself to make a visit. I bought up big and filled a trolley to overflowing.

While standing in the queue for the checkout the man behind me remarked about my yarn quantity and asked me what I was going to do with it. I explained to him about the Wrap With Love Organisation and our Probus group knitting/crocheting blankets for this charity. He was suitably impressed.

After purchasing my “bargain” and having left the store, a lady ran after me and said she had overheard my conversation with the man in the queue. She asked if I had to pay out of my own pocket for the yarn myself. She then said “Please let me pay for it. I am very impressed that you do this for charity.”

I tried to decline her offer, explaining that its’s a hobby of mine, but didn’t succeed. She gave me $50. I was blown away. She made my day.

There are some lovely people around.

Please remember the following:

Just a little refresher:
• Squares need to be 10” x 10” (25cm x 25cm)
• Knitted on size 4mm (or old size 8) needles
• Please join wool at beginning of row as this is preferable
• Ensure there are no knots in body of knitting


Instructions for Making Squares

Please join acrylic yarn at the beginning of a row as it is preferable not to have knots in the middle of a row as this can weaken the square.

TIP – Squares are to be knitted with 8 ply acrylic yarn on size 8 (4 mm) needles, to measure 25 cm x 25 cm (10 inches x 10 inches) as this ensures a consistent size of square to sew into a wrap of 28 squares.

Read the instructions on how to make squares


Wrap with Love Founder, Sonia Gidley-King, 1928-2010

In 1992 a television program on war-torn Mozambique motivated Sonia Gidley-King to help people in disadvantaged countries. She had some leftover wool in the cupboard so she knitted a square and organised a group of volunteers to knit, crochet or weave other woollen squares measuring 25 centimetres x 25 centimetres.

These were joined to make patchwork rugs of 28 28 squares and within a month 38 wraps were completed. Gidley-King started calling aid agencies for help with transport but everyone thought it would be too expensive. Weeks later Community Aid Abroad called back. Coincidentally it was shipping some machinery to Mozambique and the wraps could go a packaging.

Making the blankets caught people’s imagination and led to the creation of the charity Wrap With Love.

Wrap with Love grew quickly and Gidley-King’s powerful presence galvanised many volunteers to start knitting. With increased publicity and volunteers helping out with administration and distribution pallets of wraps were sent overseas and within Australia, always given out without payment. Local beneficiaries included homeless youth, refugees and victims of floods and the Victorian bush fires. Offshore the wraps were sent to 30 needy countries.

Sonia Ann Lester was born in 1928, the daughter of an English father, William Lester, who was an antiques dealer, money lender and SP bookie. Her mother, Eily Reid, was an Australian society hostess.

Sonia Gidley-King was educated at Kincoppal Convent at Elizabeth Bay and at a number of English schools while visiting her grandparents. Sonia was an accomplished pianist and a fine dancer. In her teens she won a scholarship to the Sadler’s Wells ballet school in London but was unable to attend because of the outbreak of war.

Instead she studied textiles and design and started her own label in her maiden name about the time she met and married Ian Hutcheon in 1955. Her designs were carried by the big department stores of the day including Farmers and Mark Foys.

After Ian’s death in 1969 Sonia remained in her parents’ home in Elizabeth Bay running a household while juggling her career and young family. She was involved in a community theatre in Ultimo known as The Actors’ Company. During this time she met and married George Gidley-King who died in 1990.

Since the start of Wrap with Love in 1992 more than 414,000 wraps have been produced and distributed locally and around the world.

Gidley-King’s vision and industry were rewarded with an OAM in 1997.

Submitted by Cherry Robinson

‘Cold humanity is our concern, people caring about other people.’

There are millions of people in the world suffering extreme cold. In 1992, Wrap with Love began with the idea to help as many people as possible by providing warm Wraps to ward off hypothermia and in the past 20 years more than 323,000 Wraps have been made and distributed to people in over 75 countries, including Australia, with the help of hardworking and generous volunteers.

Just one square provides one twenty-eighth of warmth, and collectively, twenty-eight assembled squares create one whole warm and sheltering Wrap.

Wrap With Love Inc statement

A group of dedicated volunteers from the Combined Probus Club of Belrose regularly get together to knit and assemble Wraps.

If any of our newer members would like to know more or to start knitting, please see Margaret Hobson.