Sleeping Mats

On Tuesday I dropped off sleeping mat numbers 13 - 17.  That is 17 mats in total made in 16 months!!

Hopefully it means 17 people getting a slightly warmer, slightly more comfortable nights sleep.

I'd like to thank Sam from West Victoria Homeless Support Group who provided me with a peg loom to use to make the mats.  The mats made using the loom were a lot quicker compared to the first three that I crocheted.

At the moment there is another mat that is in progress, it is being completed by a Year 2 class of boys at Tintern Grammar.  Mrs G has got the boys weaving a mat so they too can help someone that is sleeping rough.  Thank you Tintern Grammar for taking on this project as well.

Homelessness Week 2017

What a week!!

It started last week when I heard about the launch for Homelessness Week at Lilydale Lake Community Centre.  It was advertised on the Yarra Ranges Life TV Facebook Page.

I'd been following Yarra Ranges Life TV's Facebook page after they did a special on Animal Aid up at Coldstream.

They were streaming the coverage of the launch live from Lilydale Lake Community Centre.

For the last fifteen months I've been making sleeping mats out of plastic bags.  I first found out about the mats on a local noticeboard where they were looking for helpers to make the mats.

I started going along to workshops being held in Frankston and started crocheting my first mat.  The first couple of mats were crocheted but then I found out it was a lot quicker to use a weaving loom.
Thank you Sam from West Victoria Homeless Support Group for gifting me a loom and the second two I also purchased for other groups to use.  One loom is on loan to a group of students at Tintern Grammar.

At the beginning of the week I had three mats along with pillows to hand over to people on the streets and I was looking for a group to give them to.

I took one of them along on Monday to the launch and met Councillor Tim Heenan who was sleeping rough in a cardboard box near Melba Park in Lilydale at the David Parkinson Pavillion.

Tim has been using one of the mats in his cardboard box and has provided valuable feedback regarding how they help him get a better nights sleep and at the end of the sleep out he will then pass the mat on to someone else who needs it.

Neal Taylor from Holy Fools was also at the launch and he has said that any mats I make after this week will be gratefully accepted and handed out to those who need them most.

I've met some wonderful people this week who are part of great groups that are helping people the most.  Holy Fools runs a lunch on a Wednesday at 12 o'clock and I'll be going down there to visit them to see their awesome work in action.

Thank you Tim, Neal, Phil and Pat who I've met this week along with the people on the streets themselves.  Looking forward to getting more mats out there and hopefully finding more local groups to help make more of them

If you have a group of people that would like to start making mats please contact me for further details via my Facebook page

Plastic Bag Mats for the Homeless

The other week I was scrolling through Facebook and a post jumped out regarding these mats.

Plastic bag Mats for the Homeless.

What You Need to get started:
500-700 plastic shopping bags (for a person-sized mat, but can vary depending on what you're using the mat for)10 mm or larger Crochet hook Scissors

Instructions:

Flatten the plastic bag to best you can and straighten any of the bags creases

Cut off the handles and the bottom seam so that you're left with a rectangle. This can then be cut into four strips that become loops when opened up.

After you have lots of loops, hook them together with a basic larks head knot. This is done by overlapping two of the loops end-to-end, then pulling the top of one end through the middle intersection of the two loops. Repeat this step.

From here you can start to crochet! You'll need approximately 42 chain stitches, and then continue to crochet until you arrive at your desired length.

Recycle the scrap plastic at your local grocery store to ensure that nothing is wasted.

Approximate size of the finished mat is 3' x 6' or 90 cm x 180 cm.

If you would like to join the group here is the link

Special Thanks go to Deniz for starting this project, I am helping by making mats and spreading the word about this great initiative.