Wigan sewing group supports air ambulance

Serendipity Quiltting and Patchwork group from Billinge raised £500 for the charity through the upcycling of spare fabrics.

Bernadette Peters, who attends the group at Bispham Methodist Church Hall, said: “We attend the group every Tuesday morning and we make various pieces.

“What we do is if any of us have any fabric that we don’t want or if they have been donated from a sewer’s family after they have passed away, we put them on a table with a donation tin.

“So if people want to use take any of the fabric, they’ll put 50p or a pound in the pot, there’s no fund-raising events or anything like that.

“It can take a while to collect £500 but because we were close for a long time due to Covid, there was some money left in the pot.

“We then save the money and find a chairty to donate it to each year.”

The group, run by Chris Parker, has donated the money to the air ambulance for the past few years, following their attendance in a hit and run crash in the area.

In 2019, Keith and Ruth Brown were out celebrating Keith’s 79th birthday with their friend David Culleton when they were hit by a Ford Kuga.

They were airlifted to hospital where Mr Brown and Mr Culleton passed away, while Mrs Brown was in a coma for three days but later recovered from her injuries.

Bernadette added: “They essentially saved her life.

“Because we are all from the area, we knew them quite well because they owned a little car garage near the Hare and Hounds pub.

“For the last three years we decided to give the money to them because they come locally and they do a fantastic job.”

Laura Carr, regional fund-raiser for North West Air Ambulance Charity, said: “We receive no government or NHS funding, so donations like this from Serendipity Quilting and Patchwork Group make a huge difference to our charity.

“On behalf of everyone at North West Air Ambulance Charity, I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who donated and helped fundraise.”

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