We first got our needles out back in 2003 when we knitted 20,000 hats to raise £10,000 for Age Concern. Since then The Big Knit has grown every single year – and 2011 will be the year we smash the £1 million mark of total money raised over the campaign’s history as we aim to put 650,000 hats on our bottles.

Since we started the Big Knit, we’ve worked with Age Concern and Help the Aged (who have now merged to Age UK) to help keep thousands of older people across the UK warm and healthy during the chilly winter months.

We need your help to continue supporting this great cause.

 

Our hats are knitted by knitters up and down the country.  They send us their hats between now and October and we then count them all up before handpacking them onto our little bottles. They are then sent off to store, and will be available to buy in Boots and Sainsbury’s stores across the UK for 2 weeks.

For every behatted bottle sold, 25p is donated to Age UK.

Over the years, we’ve been sent hats of all different shapes and sizes, from all over the world and from people who’ve been knitting for years to those who’ve just picked up their needles for the first time.

Of all the hats we receive, around 80% of them come from the people who directly benefit from Age UK’s services. Over 100 Age Concerns/Age UKs* centres get behind the campaign, running knitting groups in their centres.

All of the money raised through the hats knitted in these groups goes directly back to the Age Concern/Age UK centres to allow them to continue providing support to elderly people in their local community.

*Many local Age Concerns are changing their name to Age UK.