Local Operation Cover-Up knitting co-ordinator steps down
Right: Julie Langford packing her last consignment to Operation Cover-Up. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Julie Langford from Kotinga has sent away her last consignment to Operation Cover-Up and she is looking for someone to take over the project locally.
The movement sends knitted items and school equipment to needy families in Romania, Moldavia, Albania and Russia. It began in 2000, and since then volunteer knitters have produced thousands of hats, scarves, mittens, bootees, jerseys and especially blankets. A knitter can produce as many peggy squares as they want to and then, in Golden Bay, Julie sews all the squares into blankets. She has had help - and it’s just as well, because at times the number of peggy squares has threatened to overwhelm her.
“I get very busy during May, June and July because that’s when people really like to knit. There have been needles and wool at the medical centre and in schools around the Bay. People just pick up the needles and knit a few rows. It’s amazing how quickly a few people can knit enough squares to make a blanket.
“I’d really like someone to step up and take charge of Operation Cover-Up in the Bay. It’s a matter of co-ordinating the efforts and organising the sewing-up of the blankets.”
Julie says that there was a suggestion that the first Operation Cover-Up would be a “one-year wonder”, but the idea grew and grew. Now some people make a point of donating money to help cover the shipment to Rotterdam, from where all the goods are dispatched to the grateful recipients in eastern Europe. The organisers ensure that donors can be confident that their knitting and other items have arrived at their destinations.
“Everything is baled up and labelled with a year and a number,” explains Julie. “When the bales arrive in Europe they’re photographed and the photos are sent to us so we know that everything gets to where it’s needed.”
Children and families in Eastern Europe have reported what an amazing difference woolly hats, blankets scarves or bootees can make – not to mention the pencils, pens and notebooks that often accompany them.
Anyone willing to take responsibility for Operation Cover-Up can phone Julie on 525 8089.
Neil Wilson
