Six years ago, Betty Laird started the Crafty Crafters at the old Narrabri Gaol, a place where women could go and learn a new craft, share their craft knowledge, work on their own craft, make new friends and give back to the community.
The group meets twice a week, with some attending both days and others attending only one day.
Over the years they have made thousands of craft items which they have donated to charity and/or people who could do with a little hand up, not a handout.
They also sell some of their craft and are looking forward to the Christmas pop-up shop.
Soft cuddly toys, including dolls, teddy bears, dogs, scrunchies, cards, fiddle mitts, baby clothes, cushions, Christmas wreaths, socks and rugs are just a few of the craft items which have been donated.
Ronald McDonald House is one charity which has benefited from hundreds of donations for the little people and their families who must be away from home due to illness.
The group is also a very caring group and have put together a Christmas hamper for a family of four young girls whose mother is extremely unwell and the dad is working very hard to maintain the family dynamics.
Boggabri has not been forgotten as the group has donated beautiful blankets for each of the residents in the John Prior Nursing home.
Next winter they are looking at more rugs for Boggabri ‘Glentarkie Units’.
The ladies all attend for their own personal reasons with one lady telling me that she lives a long way out of Narrabri.
She said that she feels isolated and on top of that she suffers from depression and this group has been a life saver.
She has made new friends, looks forward to each week and her hidden talents have been brought to the surface by the group with her now teaching the group a skill that was not available in the group.
One of the newcomers to the group said that after her husband’s death she was a little lost as to the future and one of her friends had asked her to join the group.
She said she is very happy she has found a group where friendship, fun, laughter and swapping skill sets is what she looks forward to each week.
Another lady moved to Narrabri from the coast and didn’t know anyone and now has a lot of new friends, knits and crochets hundreds of items which are distributed to family, friends and donated to charities at the coast as well as the charities that the Narrabri group support.
The group unanimously sang the praises of Betty Laird saying how much they appreciate the time, effort and skills that Betty has brought to the group.
She makes everyone feel welcome, organises different activities, sources the materials, patterns, prospective donor groups for their craft and travels many kilometres delivering donations.
It doesn’t matter if it is big or small, knitted or crocheted, sewn by hand or machine this group can handle the challenge.
