Chantry Middle School make giraffes from our off cuts

July 12th, 2010

We recently donated some of our offcuts to the Chantry Middle School which the pupils used to make these lovely giraffes.

We received some great feedback from the school and below are some the comments from the pupils.

“Instead of a hole in the ground being filled, a hole in someone’s heart has been filled.” Olivia Taylor

“We have learned new skills and teamwork and have had fun at the same time” Charley and Louise

“Thanks for making this project happen” Ross T

“Thanks for the material for the giraffes” Thomas B

Initially the fleece fabric off-cuts were to be made into hats by the year 8 pupils. The fabulous colours and patterns are bang up to date and appealing, which encourages pupils to want to use them.

I thought that some off-cuts were large enough to make soft toys with and searched out a 70’s pattern, with 4 pieces and no gussets, to make up as a giraffe. A first pass was made to decide whether the pupils could manage the work, and to my delight some of the children spotted the finished giraffe on a bench.  It was love at first sight! In no time at all a class asked if they too could make giraffes. Initially they were going to be for themselves, but then the tragic events in Haiti unfolded. Money raising events took place in school but some of the class thought that all the money in the world could not replace a hug from a lost parent. The class wanted the orphans of Haiti to have a giraffe to cuddle. Through the off-cut fleece fabric we are able to send many giraffe cuddles to the children in Haiti with our love.

It has been decided to continue making giraffes, all of which will be sold to support charities. The next big push will be for Children In Need, it will probably be the first time that giraffes and a bear get along!

Through the gift of fleece off-cuts we have had a unique opportunity to help people we will probably never meet. To learn at first hand about the teamwork in a factory, skills, deadlines, marketing and costing. To think about the world beyond the town where we live.

With the smaller pieces of fabric we can make ‘Frog Beanbags’ in year 6. The smallest pieces are used to make ‘Clippy Mats’, this keeps alive the technique and domestic history of our area as well as affording a bit of time in the day to sit down together for a good ‘natter’!