Sunrise Senior Living launch #knitforwinter campaign for premature babies

Older people’s care provider, Sunrise Senior Living has partnered with premature baby charity, First Touch to create a campaign to knit woolly clothes for premature babies over the winter months.

The #knitforwinter campaign will see staff and residents at Sunrise communities from across the UK help to keep premature babies warm this winter, by organising knitting groups and donating the items they make to premature babies at the First Touch neonatal baby unit at St George’s Hospital, London.

Managing director of Sunrise Senior Living, Amanda Scott, said: “After the great success of last year’s #knitforwinter campaign, we’re excited to take on another important cause this winter in raising awareness for the one in nine babies born prematurely in the UK every year.

“We’ll see society’s oldest taking care of its youngest, with help from a fabulous community of talented knitters. We look forward to getting as many people involved as possible and warmly invite everyone, whether beginner or experienced knitter, to take part.”

The #knitforwinter campaign is now its second year. In 2014, Sunrise Senior Living worked with a community of knitting bloggers to produce warm clothing for older people afters figures from Age UK revealed that one older person dies every eight minutes because of the cold during winter.

This year, Innocent Drinks have partnered with Age UK for the twelfth consecutive year to raise money to help keep older people warm this winter.

Similar to older people, premature babies are at risk of hypothermia, resulting in many premature babies born in the coming weeks not being able to come home from hospital in time for their first Christmas.

First Touch provides support to more than 600 babies each year at the Neonatal Unit at St George’s Hospital, many of them have been born prematurely. Neonatal units specialise in providing care for premature, small or sick full-term babies.

For more information about #knitforwinter, and to download knitting patterns see here.