Are you an Australian knitter looking for a knitting charity to join? Check out one of these great charities
In response to a request from a reader from Tasmania who was interested in Australian knitting charities, Australian readers came through! Originally I planned to send responses as a brief blurb in a Knitting Nuggets Newsletter.
However, when a few different charities were recommended, I realized that I needed to cover this topic more thoroughly! So below are three different knitting charities in Australia. I hope that all my wonderful Australian readers will find this helpful!
Knit 4 Charities
Knit 4 Charities may be the biggest and most well-known knitting charity in Australia. Several Australians informed me about this fantastic organization, and I was so excited to learn more about it. Knit 4 Charities has a primary branch and two secondary branches: one in southern Australia, and one in western Australia. Each has its own Yahoo! Group that comprises its list of volunteers.
The primary branch has 950 volunteers as of this writing; an additional 85 members comprise the other two branches. Together, they make this a mighty charity indeed. Rather than helping one sole cause or organization, the knitters and crocheters (yes, those who crochet are welcome too!) behind Knit 4 Charities support many different causes.
Every month, Knit4Charities chooses a different set of two or three groups to create items for. This diversification makes Knit 4 Charities a wonderful group for anyone who enjoys knitting or crocheting a variety of different projects throughout the year for charity.
Please take a look at the Knit4Charities website to get an even greater feel for the amazing and extensive work done by members of this fantastic charity!
Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy
This particular charity came to my attention thanks to its owner/founder, Karen Croke. I don’t think anything I have to say about this group could match her own eloquent plea for more members to help with the group’s mission:
We are always on the lookout for new members to help us produce more garments to be given free of charge to the homeless; less fortunate people; victims of domestic violence; hospitals – particularly cancer patients and premature babies; aged care facilities; mental health facilities; and animal shelters, to name but just a few.
For the members of this organization, “needy” has a wide definition. It doesn’t simply refer to homeless or poor folks; it refers to anyone with any kind of need, as you can see from Karen’s description. Anyone who needs help can get it from this group’s dedicated knitters — even animals!
This is another group with wide parameters for projects. Just about anything you enjoy knitting can be used by this group! Find out more about this long-running organization (established in 2006) from their website or join their Facebook group.
Knit One, Give One (KOGO)
This may be Australia’s longest-running knitting charity, as it began to emerge into life in July 2004. As so many knitting charities do, it started with friends and family who decided to make scarves for the homeless. The next year they became an official charity, and membership quickly swelled to 200.
KOGO prides itself in creating for the most vulnerable members of the state of Victoria. These include homeless people, struggling families, refugees, at-risk children, indigenous communities, and women in shelters. They request many “typical” knitted items such as hats, booties, socks, sweaters, toys, mittens, scarves, and blankets. From time to time they also have special particular needs that are noted on their website.
In addition to lists of needs, photos of donations, lists of recipients, drop-off points, and the like, the KOGO website provides a handy set of patterns that run the gamut from simple to more complex. So if you’re not sure what to knit, you can always scroll through their patterns for inspiration. You can peruse their website here.
I hope that Australian readers still searching for their own charity knitting niche will find the right group amongst these four terrific organizations!
