I don’t know about you, but it always feels to me like a fresh start at the beginning of a new academic year whether you’re back to school or not. At Tadcrafters we are starting back with the full length 10-3 drop-in sessions from September, the gardeners are sewing seeds, TadApple Day is back, the Sherburn group is getting going again, the Grafters are making bird boxes for spring, and the beekeepers are trained and ready to go. We’ll be exhibiting the Community Patchwork for the first time too so it really feels like a re-launch of activities. There’s more details on all of those things coming up but first a summary of what we did last month:
- Gardening at the Primary Academy
- 40 Feminine hygiene kits sent to Malawi
- Filming for SDC sponsored video promoting volunteering in Tadcaster
- August drop-in crafting workshop session in Sherburn
- TadGrafters whittling session at Little Land
- Beginners Beekeeping course
- 56 Bags donated to St. Leonard’s Hospice
TadCrafters Group Update
The next TadCrafters drop-in session, will be on Tuesday 14th September 10am to 3pm.at The Barn in Tadcaster, as usual. Lynne has organised a range of activities that we can all do without getting too distracted from talking to each other. There will be tea/coffee etc provided. We look forward to seeing lots of people that we have not seen for a long time, and, of course, some people who have become regulars more recently.
At 2pm we will be stopping for a brief meeting to summarise the past year (or two!) and discuss our plans for the future. We would very much appreciate your input and response to our ideas. This will be our Annual General Meeting, but don’t worry, you won’t be cajoled into standing for any elections. Please stay for the meeting if you possibly can.
We still have not been able to distribute shawls etc to York Teaching Hospital Charity as they are not getting through their stocks as quickly as they usually do but we hope to be able to send off two very large bags full soon, possibly elsewhere. We also have a good pile of bags for the Banana Box project at Spirit of Christmas ready for when I next visit Selby, and a good selection of knitted puppets which will be posted to Knit for Nowt to distribute to children’s services workers when we get a good-sized package.
Stitches for Survival (Knit/sew etc). Please continue to create your 100cm wide x 60 cm high panels for this project. The deadline is our September 14th drop-in session. More information and inspiration for your designs in our June newsletter or https://stitchesforsurvival.earth/
Winter is coming…. If you have any festive fabric for our Christmas stocking project please let us have it in September or October. We hope to be able to distribute matching hat and scarf sets to Spirit of Christmas and to food banks that support people who are struggling more at this time of year.
For a full list of all our current projects please see the list towards the end of this newsletter.
Beekeeping Group Update
After some intensive training we have six more beekeepers trained to look after the bees, although we are still heavily reliant on our very capable mentors, Priscilla and Andy, who have been amazing with their support. We now have most of the kit, and some idea of what we are doing! The bees will be settling down for the winter pretty soon so there will be less to do until the spring but we hope to be able to meet up as a group a few times to share information about the hives etc. If there is sufficient interest we will ask Andy to run another beginners theory course before the hives become active again in the spring. If you are interested please get in touch.
TadGrafters Wood-working Group Update
The Grafters will be meeting next on Weds 15th September from 4-6pm at The Barn. Craig will be discussing his plans for projects with the group and getting a few hedgehog lodges ready for distribution. We always keep the numbers low for safety reasons so if you have not been before or for a while please let us know to expect you.
Gardening Group update
The Tadcaster Primary Academy garden was looking lovely for its appearance in the film, in August, showcasing volunteering opportunities in Tadcaster. There is a little more Sue would like to do before the school term restarts so she has arranged to be there on Saturday 4th September between 10am and 1pm. If you are available to come along for any length of time between those times your help will be very welcome.
Plans are being put in place to make further progress in renovating the Quaker Burial Ground. Between now and the end of September is the correct time to get a wildflower meadow started and we have acquired enough wildflower seed to cover about half of the lower level. Before the seed can be sown, at least 50% of the grass in the area to be planted needs to be removed so that the seed comes into contact with the soil. If anyone has access to a rotavator, or knows someone who has, that we could borrow for a few hours, that would greatly reduce the amount of labour required, otherwise it will be an entirely manual task to remove the grass. Dan Carne from the Woodmeadow Trust has agreed to come to QBG on 20th September to help sow the seed in order to get the best results so the area needs to be prepared during the week before. For more information about the importance of wildflower areas please see https://bluecampaignhub.com/gardeners. If you are available between 14th and 20th September or know of anyone else who is interested in getting involved, please pass on the information and your availability ASAP to Sue, or email tadcrafters@outlook.com to let us know.
Plans are underway to host our 4th TadApple Day on Sunday 17th October from 10am-3pm at The Barn. It is a free event to encourage community co-operation and for people to bring along lots of apples to turn into them into juice using a press. If you would like to help out for a couple of hours on the day, or have a press we could borrow, it would be appreciated. Offers of apples and people willing to pick them before the day will be gratefully received on our Tadcrafters Group Chat on Facebook (2) Tadcrafters Group Chat | Facebook but it would be much better if you talked to friends, neighbours and other members of the community to make arrangements yourself, which is one of the main points of the event! Cooking or desert apples are both fine. If you want to take some apple juice home you will need to bring an empty bottle or two. More information about how to treat apple juice to make it last longer (or turn it into cider) can be found on our website.
Sherburn Crafters Update
Sherburn drop-in workshop sessions will be at the Old Girls’ School from 11am to 1pm on Fridays: September 24th, October 22nd, November 26th and December 17th
Please come along to support Karen and help this this new group grow into a valuable asset for the village. Projects will be similar to those of the main group with the option to develop new projects in line with local needs and ideas within the group.
Community Interest Company news
Thanks to our very skilled quilter, Anne H, the Community Patchwork is now complete and will be shown for the first time at our stall in Kirkgate on Saturday 11th September. We’ll also be having a tombola so please bring some cash along to have a go at winning something nice and a few more contributions to the tombola won’t go amiss either. There will also be stalls from the Artisan Market with lots of top quality fresh local produce. The Patchwork will be moved to its permanent home at The Barn soon after.
Plans are still underway to be able to offer additional workshops and crafting sessions that will help us fund our free activities. This is largely dependent on getting easier access to the loft space in The Barn and hopefully you will see a new staircase being installed before too long. If you have any ideas of what you’d like to see please let us know at the AGM at 2pm on Tuesday September 14th at The Barn.
List of Current TadCrafters projects
We welcome anyone new who would like to join us but ask you to please stick to our current projects as other items can be hard to find homes for. We need to focus on a few projects at a time so we can support everyone, maintain our standards and supply items that are wanted by worthy causes, in appropriate quantities. We are able to supply materials locally for free and instructions are provided by email or the links provided below; if you need help, please ask as our pile of hospital cases needing attention is growing!
Sewing– supplied in kit form at the drop-off sessions
- Stitches for survival 60cm high x 100cm wide “scarf” https://stitchesforsurvival.earth/ Deadline September 14th drop-in session
- Worry Monsters for Children’s Services and local schools
- Drawstring book bags for the Banana box toy project
- Personal effects bags for St. Leonard’s Hospice.
- YorKits liners, shields and drawstring bags.
- Heart-shaped cushions and drain bags for St. James’ Hospital.
Knitting/crochet– yarn available at the drop-off sessions
- Stitches for survival 60cm high x 100cm wide “scarf” https://stitchesforsurvival.earth/ deadline September 14th
- Hand Puppets There’s a wide choice of options and instructions also available on https://www.knitfornowt.org/. NB safety instructions.
- Shawls or matching hat/scarf sets for Christmas projects. Deadline November drop-in.
Other projects
- If you can’t knit or sew there are non-sewing tasks such as threading drawstrings and decorating twiddlemuffs that are really useful to the team, please ask.
- Picking-up/dropping-off supplies for people who are unable to make the sessions. Team up with someone who cannot drive or has other commitments on session days.
- Join our wood-work, gardening, or bee-keeping groups.
Wish list and other ways to help
We are really short of storage space so please try to stick as close as possible to our wish list.
- New or clean, nearly new polyester/cotton or other lightweight woven fabric
- New or clean, nearly new winceyette (brushed cotton) sheets/fabric
- New or nearly new knitting yarn. Any colour or weight
- Items, especially hand-crafted ones, suitable for our tombola stalls
- “Gently worn” bras and new pants for “Smalls for All” http://smallsforall.org/
- Please share our social media posts and encourage others to join in.
- If you would like to make a financial donation/direct debit to help us do what we do you can do so on the Local Giving website which can be found at: https://localgiving.org/tadcrafters
- Sign up to Easyfundraising to raise money for us at no extra cost to you when you shop online, https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/tadcrafterscic/
- Vintage fabric, equipment and haberdashery (see below)
- Any items not suitable or surplus to our own use we sell to people who really appreciate them, whilst also raising funds for our projects.
Keep in touch
If you need to get in touch with us, and need a response, please use email. This is to protect your personal details and because conversations on social media become lost. Someone will get back to you but it might not be straight away due to other commitments. The Tadcrafters Chat Group/Sherburn Tadcrafters Chat Group is a great way to keep in touch with each other and be inspired. You can also follow the Tadcrafters Page on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@Tadcrafters).
To be put on the emailing list (wherever you live) please request it by emailing tadcrafters@outlook.com and add us to your list of contacts so we don’t end up in the junk. There are usually only one or two emails a month.
If you would like to be kept up to date about any of the specific group activities please email us and ask to be put on the relevant group mailing list and your email will be forwarded to the group leader.
See you soon, Su.
Directors Tadcrafters CIC: Su Morgan, Lynne Howard and Sandra Levitt
Calendar
| Date | Event | Time | Location |
| Sat 4th Sept | Gardening | 10am-1pm | Tadcaster Primary Academy |
| Sat 11th Sept | Community Patchwork unveiling and tombola stall | 10am-4pm | Kirkgate Market, Tadcaster |
| Tues 14th Sept | Drop-in workshop session | 10am- 3pm | The Barn |
| Weds 15th Sept | TadGrafters | 4-6pm | The Barn |
| Fri 24th Sept | Sherburn Crafters | 11-1pm | Sherburn Old Girls School |
| Tues 12th Oct | Drop-in workshop session | 10am- 3pm | The Barn |
| Weds 13th Oct | TadGrafters | 4-6pm | The Barn |
| Sun 17th Oct | TadApple Day | 10am-3pm | The Barn |
| Fri Oct 27th | Sherburn Crafters | 11-1pm | Sherburn Old Girls School |
| Tues 9th Nov | Drop-in workshop session | 10am- 3pm | The Barn |
| Weds 10th Nov | TadGrafters | 4-6pm | The Barn |
| Fri 26th Nov | Sherburn Crafters | 11-1pm | Sherburn Old Girls School |
| Sun 28th Nov | Tombola Stall | 10am – 4pm | Tadcaster Christmas Market, Kirkgate |
| Tues 14th Dec | Drop-in workshop session | 10am- 3pm | The Barn |
| Weds 15th Dec | TadGrafters | 4-6pm | The Barn |
| Fri 17th Dec | Sherburn Crafters | 11-1pm | Sherburn Old Girls School |
Tadcrafters 