Knitters do their bit for kids in East Timor

COMMUNITY groups have banded together to send 35,000 new knitted items to children of East Timor.Radius Disability Services, in conjunction with the Rotary Clubs of Sandhurst and Bendigo South, and 300 knitters from Yarrawonga, Cobram, Echuca, Kyabram, Cohuna, Ballarat and Bendigo, have created knitted items for East Timor children.Project co-ordinator and Radius chairwoman Patti Cotton said items included jumpers, rugs and beanies.She said knitters came from church groups, retirement villages, schools, people from isolated communities, CWA, and neighbourhood houses, to knit for charity.“It’s developed more than just knitting for East Timor, it’s developed social connections,’’ she said.Ms Cotton said the Friends of Bendigo Art Gallery met three times a year to sort and pack items to load into a container bound for East Timor.“People with a disability come to help pack so it’s a nice mixture of community,’’ she said.Rotarians then pass the items onto the Carmelite Sisters who distribute the knitwear out to people in villages.