Where should I send my hats to?
Keep sending us your knitted items and if they get here in time we'll put them onto bottles for this years campaign. Otherwise we'll keep them safe untill next time. Happy knitting.
Can I have some bobbles please?
We've decided that little woolly hats look just as good with or without bobbles. Therefore, we're not going to be sending out bobbles this year. If you want to make or buy your own to attach to your hat then that's great, but bobbles aren't a necessity. It's totally up to you.
How many hats are you trying to make this year?
This year we've set ourselves a massive target of over 620,000 hats. That's really big but we want to try and make lots of money for Age Concern and Help the Aged. Plus we just want to see what they’d look like all piled up in Fruit Towers.
How much money goes to Age Concern and Help the Aged?
For every behatted smoothie, veg pot or squeezie sold, innocent and Sainsbury's will give 35p to Age Concern and Help the Aged. If we meet our target of 620,000 knitted woolies this year, that will mean £217,000 for Age Concern and Help the Aged – just from behated products alone. We’ll also be doing lots of other fundraising stuff to try and smash last year’s £250,000 total donation. Keep updated on everything by visiting our knitter natter blog.
Where will the hats be sold?
This year the hats will be on our smoothies in Sainsbury's from 5th November.
Last year your gave 50p per hat, this year you’re only giving 35p – why are you giving less?
We've changed things around a bit this year. To make this year's Big Knit the biggest ever, in addition to hats on bottles, we're putting bigger hats on our kids squeezies and knitted warmers on our veg pots too. We'll be donating: 35p for every behatted 250ml bottle of smoothie sold; 35p for every behatted can of fruit squeezies sold and 35p for every woolly veg pot sold in Sainsbury's.
We've been running the Big Knit for six years now, and as it’s grown, so have the costs involved in running the project (e.g. just the cost of be-hatting 620,000 different products is significantly higher than the 30,000 hats on smoothies back in 2004). So in order for us to be able to continue to run the campaign and make this year's campaign the biggest ever, we've changed things around a bit. The great news is that along with the additional fundraising that we'll be doing this year, we're hoping to give more money than ever before to Age Concern and Help the Aged this year. We promise that every single penny raised as part of the Big Knit campaign goes directly to Age Concern and Help the Aged to help older people stay healthy this winter.
I have friends that like to knit – how can I get them involved?
This year we really want to help get people knitting with their friends. If you've got some creative or knitting friends and would like to get together with them to knit some hats then give us a shout (thebigknit@innocentdrinks.co.uk). We can send you a special pack to help you organise a little gathering.
I've got a snazzy hat pattern that I'd like to share
That's great. We really want everyone to be able to share their patterns this year. You can submit your ideas on our knitting blog or pop them in an e-mail to thebigknit@innocentdrinks.co.uk.
What can I do with the hats I've bought?
If you have hats from last year, why not re-use your hats for keeping your pet ferret's ears warm or as a smart egg cosy? We strongly advocate hat recycling and would love to see any photos you have of your interesting recycling ideas.
I have a question and need a human being to answer it.
If you've got any knitting questions then just contact us. We can help to get you started and sort out any queries that you have. Send an e-mail to thebigknit@innocentdrinks.co.uk or phone 020 8600 3939.
Age Concern England and Help the Aged have merged to form one charity, Age UK. Registered Charity Number 1128267
