Get knitting to help animals in Make A Difference Day

Last year, the RSCPA rescued more than 130,000 animals but sadly not all of them get a new, happy home with some left lonely in the shelters. Knitting a blanket is very easy and a perfect way to add comfort to the life of a cat or dog in a shelter. When they find a new home, they can take the blanket with them to help in the transition to an unfamiliar environment.

Knitting for lonely animals can bring people together, too. Research shows most British residents wouldn’t recognise their next door neighbour if they passed them on the street and 70% don’t know their names. A third of people live on there own and one million people who are over 65 are lonely and cut off from their community. Get to know your neighbours by organising a knitting group to knit different animal blankets and donate them to your nearest RSCPA centre to keep an animal warm this winter.

Make a Difference Day, part of the UK volunteering charity CSV, is giving away a free how-to guide to knit your perfect animal blanket. The how-to guide offers a method for knitters and the first 50 people can claim free knitting needles donated from charity, The Natural Fibre.

Each year tens of thousands of people take part in the campaign to benefit the community. The nation plants thousands of flowers in community gardens, cemeteries and school playgrounds; helps out in charity shops; knits hats and gloves for premature babies and visits lonely people in nursing homes, homeless shelters and hospitals.

Other free How-to Guides include:

‘How-to make a chocolatey difference’ a special Chocolate Fridge Cake recipe by chef Sam Stern

‘How-to volunteer to combat loneliness’

‘How-to write a difference’ for very sick children in hospitals

‘How-to get online’ for people who have never used the internet

‘How-to combat community isolation’

CSV Make a Difference Day is on Saturday, October 29th, with activities taking place a week either side. Project organisers can register their event on the CSV Make a Difference Day website to encourage more people to attend and claim their free action pack, which includes certificates, stickers, t-shirts, how-to guides, and a handbook which contains advice, case studies, hints and tips to help plan and carry out an activity.

To register your event visit or find out more, visit www.csv.org.uk/difference or call free on 0800 284 533 or email [email protected]