If you walk into Sporties on a Thursday morning, it’s likely you’ll hear the tapping of knitting needles and the polite giggles of our knitting ladies, who get together each week to craft, chat, and enjoy each other’s company.
Some of them have been knitting together for 30 years, creating blankets, booties, beanies, dolls, and teddy bears for charities like Ronald McDonald House and the Miracle Babies Foundation, as well as local hospitals in Liverpool and Fairfield.
Dorothy has been part of the group for more than 10 years and says they all work on something different and then meet on Thursdays to see what everyone has created.
“We all knit and craft for different reasons. Some of us make things for the Miracle Babies Foundation, others knit bed socks for local retirement homes. It’s whatever people are happy making.
“The group is really important for the ladies who live on their own now. We come in and have coffee and cake, sometimes lunch, and we just sit and knit, and chat if we want to. The social aspect of it is very important.
“We also have a shopping trip that we do together once a month. We just wander around the shops and look at things. It’s really nice to get out and about”.
Some of the ladies in the group began knitting at each other’s homes almost three decades ago. Lynne says the group got together initially for something to do, and then it evolved.
“We started off knitting at a friend’s place in Panania and then moved into a patchwork shop in Revesby when our numbers got too big. Then we moved to the Wattle Grove Community Centre where we stayed for 12 years”.
The group had to relocate from the community centre and decided on Sporties as their next meeting place. The Club has recently started covering the cost of wool and knitting supplies for all members of the group and provides them with a dedicated space inside each week.
Sporties People and Culture Manager Alison Hester says it brings a smile to your face whenever you see them.
“They really are such a lovely group. When they were forced to move from the Community Centre, it was an easy transition to have them here at the club, and I think they really enjoying being out and around other people. It’s always a pleasure to have them here”.
