Knitting Group Meets To Knit Body Parts In Preston

Knitting Group Meets To Knit Body Parts In Preston

May, 3 2016


~Do you remember those socks your Gran bought you last Christmas? Well she no doubt spent endless hours every evening knitting those socks in time for the festive season. How about though if she knitted feet and not the socks you would wear on your feet? It’s an interesting concept am sure you’d agree.

Thanks to the University of Central Lancashire’s new initiative volunteers are using wool to bring science to life for schoolchildren across Preston. The shop in the St. George’s Shopping Centre is providing the public with free knitting sessions. But, as explained at the outset these are far from the standard knitting sessions your accustomed to.

Lungs, hearts, kidneys, liver and brains have been knitted by the group to be used in schools across the city to teach them about the body and healthy living.

No the world’s not gone mad just striving for the unique and original as Pat Morris from Penwortham explains ,

“I get some very funny looks when people ask where I’m going and I say I’m off to knit body parts. It’s very different but good fun and it’s our way of helping out the children.”

Some of the knitters are contributing locally by knitting for the premature baby units in Preston and Lancaster and abroad to places like Africa where poverty stricken towns and villages are rife.

UCLAN’s Dr Liz Granger worked with local artist Caroline Finnigan to ensure the woolly body parts were accurate in their size. She helps us to determine what the group is designed to do and how it can educate young people,

“This project is about getting young primary school children to learn about the body and healthy living in a fun and interactive way”.

If this appeals to you then feel free to come along to UCLAN’S In the City Shop in the Lune Street entrance to the St George’s Shopping Centre, on Mondays between 1.30pm and 3.30pm and Thursdays between 1.00pm and 3.00pm.

Enid Bosworth has these closing comments about her personal thoughts on the impact the knitting will have on the schoolchildren and how it inspired her to get involved,

“It’s the novelty of knitting body parts that makes this different. I thought it was very interesting that the bodies will be used to teach young children and that’s what attracted me to help out with the project.”