This fundraising page is for a raffle to win a Blanket of Hugs, handmade by crocheters from around the world for a very special cause, which we are now raffling to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity: The Michael Barry Fund in memory of my husband Michael who sadly died from a brain tumour in February aged only 35.

The Blanket of Hugs measures approximately 1.35m x 1.55m and is made up of handmade squares in a mix of pinks, reds and oranges, all joined together with bright green yarn. The squares are a mix of plain, striped and bobble stitches, decorated with a scattering of handmade flowers, hearts and butterflies. The blanket is finished with a bobble stitched edge and a fabulous giant pom pom in each corner. There are lots of photos of the blanket below!

Raffle tickets are only £3 each and can be bought by making a donation to this page. Multiple tickets can be bought by making donations in multiples of £3, e.g. 2 tickets for a donation of £6. The winner will be drawn at 9pm on Wednesday 9 November 2016 and announced on Facebook and Instagram. PLEASE NOTE this raffle is open to UK entrants only. Sorry to any international friends, I’m afraid the blanket is just too big to justify international postage.

The story behind this blanket is truly wonderful. The Blanket of Hugs is the result of a wonderful appeal to the crochet community to create a blanket of hugs for our friend Jenny, made up of squares (or mini “hugs”!) handmade by people all around the world. The response was so incredible that as well as a blanket for Jenny and her wonderful Mum Amanda, an extra 5 blankets were created, and Jenny very generously selected 5 charities to donate the extra blankets to. I was delighted when Jenny chose Michael’s fund, and we decided to raffle our blanket.

Jenny’s lovely Mum Amanda is the creator of the fabulous crochet subscription box, Little Box of Crochet (www.littleboxofcrochet.co.uk). Amanda began her business not only from her love of crochet and creativity but also from personal need, as her beautiful daughter Jenny had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. When Jenny’s cancer returned for a third time, and with so many friends following their story, Amanda and Jenny’s friend Kate (of Just Pootling - http://justpootling.blogspot.co.uk) wanted to find a way for the crochet community to show their support. Jenny needed a blanket, a blanket of hugs, that she could wrap herself in to feel all the positivity and love that everyone was sending from all corners of the world. And so the idea for #jennysblanketofhugs was born.

Kate put out a call on Instagram and her blog and was immediately inundated with responses. She set to work choosing yarn in Jenny’s favourite colours and designing three different styles of squares to make up the blanket. People from all around the world wanted to take part and send Jenny their love, and the demand was so high that suppliers quickly started to sell out of yarn in the chosen colours! Over the next few weeks parcels started to arrive from Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, Germany, America and so many more countries  – literally all the corners of the globe! By the closing date Kate had received over 1,000 squares! To use Kate’s words, it was “TOTALLY AMAZINGLY FABULOUS!”

After weeks of sorting through all of the squares and pinning them up into blankets (using no less than 3,000 safety pins!), Kate, Amanda, Jenny and a group of 20 crochet friends who volunteered to help arranged a gathering to join all of the squares up into blankets. Our blanket was then finished off by Clare (instagram.com/frankielovescrochet/),
who added a fabulous bobble trim and huge pom poms on each corner!

So not only is this blanket a work of art, it is more importantly a global expression of love and support. I can’t quite describe how overwhelmingly wonderful the blanket is knowing just how much love and countless hours of work from people all around the world has gone into it. Now you have the opportunity to call it your own and wrap yourself up in hugs, whilst helping to support an incredibly important cause.

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killers of children and under 40s yet receive less than 2% of the national spend on cancer research in the UK and so funding for this research is vitally needed. All proceeds from the raffle will be used to fund research into high grade brain tumours in the hope that we might reduce the harm caused by brain tumours, improve survival and one day find a cure.

Thank you for your support!

Lucy x

(If you would like to learn more about #jennysblanketof hugs, you can read the full story here http://blog.lovecrochet.com/jennys-blanket-of-hugs/ or scroll the instagram hashtag here https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/jennysblanketofhugs/)

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. This raffle is in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity: The Michael Barry Fund, to raise money for research into high grade brain tumours. 

2. Tickets are £3 each and can be purchased by way of a donation to the Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/blanketofhugs

3. Multiple tickets can be purchased by making donations in multiples of £3, e.g. 2 tickets for £6, 3 tickets for £9 etc.

4. UK entrants only.

5. All donations to purchase a raffle ticket are non-refundable.

6. You must leave your name and a contact email address when making your donation so that we are able to contact you if you are the winner. If you do not leave your contact details, we will be unable to enter your name into the draw as we will have no way of contacting you if your name is drawn.

7. The draw will take place on Wednesday 9 November 2016 at 9pm.

8. All names attached to donations on the Just Giving page will be entered into the draw and one name will be drawn at random. The decision of the raffle organiser is final and the raffle will be run in a fair and honest way.

9. The winner will be contacted within 24 hours and will be announced on Facebook and Instagram.

10. The blanket will be posted within 7 days of receipt of the winner’s address.

11. There is no cash alternative.

PLEASE NOTE: as donations to this page are for the purchase of a raffle ticket, they are not eligible for Gift Aid, so there will be no option to add Gift Aid to your donation.