Homeless people to benefit from Caithness project
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A LOCAL children's charity is appealing for crisp packets so that bivvy bags can be made for homeless people as part of a Christmas project.
So far members of No Limits Caithness, along with volunteers, have made one of the bags, which will be used for slipping over the top of sleeping bags to prevent them from getting wet. Before December 22, they aim to make one more bag.
The finished work will be distributed to homeless people in Edinburgh via Crisis Skylight together with special Christmas boxes also being prepared by the group.
No Limits Caithness is busy collecting items such as bars of soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, warm clothing and books from the community to put in the boxes. It has amassed more than 100 bars of soap, largely thanks to J J Munro, and has plenty books, but is still looking for warm clothes such as hats, scarves, gloves and socks.
The lead practitioner of No Limits Caithness, Shelly Dygutowicz, explained that they were using a process designed by the Art Shack for the crisp-packet project which can be found on Facebook.
She said: "We are a charity for children with additional and complex needs and decided to run this project to bring the community together this Christmas to support those in a worse position than ourselves.
"One hundred per cent of resources, time and equipment used has been donated, including the transport of the items to the final destination in Edinburgh."
They started making the first bag in November and used around 200 recycled crisp packets which Shelly admitted was a bit too many and meant the finished article was slightly larger than intended.
Enough crisp packets have been collected for the next bag, which will be smaller. Each packet gets cut open and washed before being fused together by ironing.
The group is thankful for the help it has received so far from the pupil support assistants at Wick High School who have been kept busy cutting the crisp packets as well as donating warm clothes for the project.
Members and volunteers of No Limits have been involved in the washing of the packets, while other helpers have been taking part in the ironing as well as making donations for the boxes.
Large clear plastic bags that have been donated to No Limits by Jack's Flooring, Wick, are also involved in the design.
They aim to continue the project throughout the coming year so they will have additional bivvy bags ready for next Christmas.
More details can be found on Facebook, and those wishing to donate can do so by contacting Shelly through the No Limits Caithness page or by dropping off items at its base in the Wick Family Centre, Bank Row.
