Arts and crafts donations help Peterborough residents during lockdown

Club 73 are providing residents with activity packs as regular support though they were having trouble keeping up supplies as requests were increasing rapidly.

The long-standing group has been providing weekly support for vulnerable adults since 1973 through sports, discos and other activities.

Klayr Linch, Facilitator for Club 73 was ‘blown away’ by the support. She said: “Our resources of crafts were dwindling, we were starting to fear we would not be able to continue sending out activity packs to members. We were contacted by Ishfaq to see if he could support us. I don’t know how he has managed to collect so many resources as he has. It’s blown our minds that the generous people of Peterborough have heard our plea and helping us in ways we could have only dreamed of.”

Now 50 members of the club are able to receive the packs they requested, with Klayr hoping to run a weekly online craft-along event using some more of the resources they have been given.

Ishfaq Hussain, led the way in gathering donations from across Peterborough with the help of some volunteers.

Having sons with Cystic Fibrosis, the club is important to him as he recognises how much support they have given to residents of Peterborough with disabilities or additional needs. He said: “They were struggling with things, as people are isolated at home and they were running out of stuff for them to do. We need to keep people mentally stimulated so that’s why I put an appeal out on social media across a few Facebook groups. The ideal is going forward people realise how important the club is, and how important donations are to the club.”

The 200+ members of Club 73, at the moment are unable to take part in leisure activities and the donations of arts and crafts supplies will make a ‘huge difference’ in their lives.