Tenants of a Bield retirement housing development in Penicuik have been hard at work knitting blankets for impoverished children and older people in Romania.

When tenants of Baldwin Court heard of the efforts of their local church, St Mungo’s, to send blankets to the poor in Romania, a group of eight decided that they too would do their part for charity.

Setting up a knitting group in the development’s common lounge, the group of friends set about knitting colourful squares which could then be sewn together to make a blanket.

Seven tenants and one carer spent some 10 months knitting and sewing together a total of 15 blankets to be sent out to needy people in Romania.

Irene Paterson, Development Manager at Baldwin Court, said: “It was absolutely wonderful to see a group of our tenants take part in such a great cause.

“Over the period of 10 months, the group managed to make 15 blankets, which as you can imagine, is a lot of knitted squares.

“However the group really did enjoy taking part and giving something back not just to those in Romania but also to the local church, St Mungo’s.

“At Bield, we are always encouraging our tenants to live by our ‘free to be’ ethos, living life independently and happily, so it was great to see the group meet for a knit and a natter over a cup of tea.”

With the blankets knitted and already on their way to Romania, some of the ladies have taken on the task of knitting more blankets, this time indulging in their love of animals by knitting for various local cat and dog homes.

Bield is a registered charity that came from humble beginnings, starting out with just one development in Bo’ness to become a major of a wide range of housing and services for around 20,000 older people across 23 local authority areas.

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