Family raise thousands for charity by knitting 'chocolate hats' in time for Easter

A family from Midlothian has raised thousands of pounds for charity over the past decade by knitting nearly 7,000 ‘chocolate hats’.

The Young family has dedicated itself to knitting chocolate egg covers ahead of every Easter to raise funds for Mary’s Meals.

Colin, 67, and Jackie, 64, have been raising funds for the international school feeding charity since finding out about the charity via a television programme 12 years ago.

They wanted to help the charity and began raising funds – by knitting.

The Young family has knitted 6,500 chocolate egg covers for Mary's Meals over the years. — The Young family has knitted 6,500 chocolate egg covers for Mary’s Meals over the years. Mary’s Meals via Supplied

Ahead of this Easter, the couple and their family have raised £3,000.

Jackie first got the idea when someone offered to pay for a scarf she made as a Christmas present, and instead, she asked for a donation to Mary’s Meals.

It has since blossomed into an ongoing project involving the extended family, with more than 410 scarves, 35 baby blankets and 6,500 ‘hats’ for chocolates knitted to raise more than £35,000 for the charity to date.

The family believe that if all the scarves knitted were joined together it would stretch to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and their granddaughter Lucy has now got involved too.

The 16-year-old creates crochet animals and has raised £1,000 alone, while the couple’s daughter Laura has also helped raise £1,200 for the charity.

Colin said: “We were inspired by the transformative power of providing food in schools and how such a simple act can lead to a better life for children.

“Seeing the scale of hunger and poverty was daunting, but we found encouragement in Mother Teresa’s words: ‘If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.’ So, we set out to do just that.”

Mary’s Meals was founded in the Scottish Highlands but now provides daily meals to more than 2.6 million children across 16 of the world’s poorest countries, including Haiti, Malawi and South Sudan.

Sally Davidson, supporter engagement officer for East Scotland at Mary’s Meals, said: “Colin and Jackie’s dedication is truly inspiring.

“Their creativity and generosity demonstrate the power of small acts of kindness in transforming lives. Every stitch they knit helps provide nutritious meals for children who might otherwise go hungry.

“We are incredibly grateful for their support and for the way they’ve brought their whole community together to help Mary’s Meals feed the next child waiting for a nutritious daily meal in a place of education.”