Dulwich Quilters Raffle Raises £1200 for CLAPA
During the weekend of 15th and 16th November 2014, more than 500 visitors flocked to the Dulwich College Old Library to see the Dulwich Quilters biennial exhibition.
The Dulwich Quilters began in 1986 and has 25 members of varying nationalities, age and character who all share a common interest – the joy of fabric and turning it into textile masterpieces. The Dulwich Quilters exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for them to show off their handcrafted textile masterpieces, which have been produced over the previous two years, as well as raise funds for local charities.
This year, the South London and Surrey Branch of CLAPA was chosen as the beneficiary of the raffle of the “Hot and Spicy quilt”, as one of its members is the parent of an adult born with a cleft, and more recently, one of her close friends has a granddaughter born with a cleft.
Ian Chatt, South London and Surrey Branch chairperson commented, “I’m delighted that the Dulwich Quilters chose CLAPA as the beneficiary from the sale of raffle tickets. The money will be put to good use as the South London and Surrey, and Sussex Branches recently purchased four breast pumps for the South Thames Cleft Service and the generousity of visitors and the Dulwich Quilters in raising £1200 will be put towards these pumps.
The South Thames Cleft Service look after children born with and affected by clefts in South London, Surrey, Sussex and Kent and the purchase of these pumps will assist the provision of a breast pump free of charge for as long as required to any mother who wishes to give breast milk to her baby. You may not be aware that one of the difficulties that a baby with a cleft palate has is that they cannot manage to breast feed. This means that without a breast pump they would miss out on the opportunity to get the extra benefit that breast milk can give. In order to keep the milk supply going, Mum requires a strong pump that is not available in the shops. The loan of a free electric breast pump encourages mothers to continue expressing for longer and has health benefits for both mother and baby”.
The raffle was drawn by Ann Young, South London and Surrey Branch committee member, and Nurse Specialist with the South Thames Cleft Service.
The exhibition was a wonderful event, and the quilts themselves were indeed works of art and took many hours to produce.
CLAPA would like to thank the Dulwich Quilters for their generosity and support; it is greatly appreciated not only by CLAPA, but by the many hundreds of babies and families affected by cleft that will benefit from the use of a breast pump.
