Thornhill Manor resident Dale Cherrington with the box of knitted squares and some samples. Dale has worked with 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day for quite some time.
Rand Aid’s Thornhill Manor retirement village residents celebrated Mandela Day by knitting squares – in all colours to celebrate our rainbow nation – which will be sewn together by 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day and distributed to those most in need.
While Covid-19 and its resultant lockdown restrictions during the third wave made it difficult to celebrate Mandela Day, Thornhill Manor’s residents started knitting 20cm x 20cm squares a few months ago.
“A number of our residents used their own wool and knitting needles and were assisted by our Knit and Knatter group. The initiative is run by resident Audrey Hepburn, who runs the knitting group,” says Thornhill Manor’s deputy manager Jackie Scott.
“We collected 459 squares, in all the colours of the rainbow to reflect our rainbow nation,” she adds.
Malcom David Burroughs from non-profit organisation 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day collected the squares from the village and his team will sew them together to make blankets and distribute them to those in desperate need.
