As the lockdown period increases, levels of loneliness is beginning to spike among the elderly.
Service users of Ekta-Unity normally attend our weekly knitting group at St Paul’s Church, Foleshill Coventry. Our knitting group activities are very popular and proved a link between ‘knitting to health benefits’, including a reduced chance of developing memory loss, lowering the heart rate, reducing depression and anxiety and reducing loneliness and isolation. Due to the lockdown our activities have closed, however, we have been encouraging our service users to knit at home and make baby clothing, which Ekta-Unity will donate to the University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire Maternity Ward and the Coventry Refugee & Migrant Centre, after the lockdown period is over.
Over the last few weeks during the lockdown, Ekta-Unity has been providing wool and knitting accessories as part of our ‘care packs’ which our volunteers there have been delivering to our service users. Under Kiran Brar’s guidance, our service users are knitting various baby clothes including cardigans, scarfs, hats and gloves.
Ekta Unity service users have found the knitting at home enjoyable and therapeutic, as it takes them back to when they felt like they had a purpose. They also feel privileged to be able to give something back to the community and help others.
In the photographs below is our Trustee: Paramjit Bains, together with other service users from the Ekta-Unity knitting group, have made some beautiful outfits for babies.
Suman Ghaiwal
Chair
Ekta-Unity
