Some of our supporters work all year round to help us to provide aid to those in need. One such group meets every Tuesday and Wednesday at Maldon Baptist Church for lunch, a laugh and The Big Knit.

Helpers turn up at noon with their lunch and their knitting needles ready to set about the task, producing woollen squares which are joined together to make blankets, plus hats and scarves to help keep out the cold. The picture on the right shows some of the people involved in the knitting.

Some of the finished blankets and other items are shown below. You can get more information about what they do and how to join the group from the Maldon Baptist Church website, www.maldonbaptistchurch.org.uk

Blankets are taken on the lorries with the food parcels at harvest time, and distributed to those that need them in late autumn/early winter along with some of the food that you have donated.

Here are some pictures of the blankets and other items in their new homes in Bulgaria.

These blankets are in a half-way house, or shelter for homeless people, near Lom.

This one is keeping a baby warm in the room he shares with his three sisters and aunt. His mother has gone away to look for work.

At the time of writing in 2008, about 150 blankets had been made and distributed to those that need them in Bulgaria. With 99, 7 inch, squares to each blanket, that's nearly 15,000 squares that have been produced and stitched together!