Dorothy knits hats for premature babies

Meet Dorothy, she’s a client from our Worcester, Droitwich & Malvern office. You might remember her from our recent article where we talked about how Karl’s care was helping her. She has difficulties with personal care, so we help with washing her legs and feet, as well as applying creams and heat spray.

Well, Dorothy has been putting her knitting skills to good use and has made a number of small hats for premature babies in the local neonatal unit. We couldn’t be prouder of her, what a fantastic thing to do.

Sadly, premature babies usually need warm clothes as their small bodies find it difficult to regulate their body temperature. This is where Dorothy’s hat’s come in.

Dorothy is an absolute superstar. She’s been knitting since about the age of 15, a real yarnie, so she’s a bit of a pro when it comes to putting together items of clothing.

“I could knit one of these in a day, if I wanted to, if I kept at it. I could knit just one in a day, but it’s usually about two or three, you know because I just take my time.”

You can watch Dorothy in action in the video below:

From mother to daughter

When she was younger Dorothy would watch her mother knit and it was her mother that later passed on the knowledge of the craft. At Radfield we are on a mission to help the nation age well by keeping them connected to what matters most. In this instance, we encourage Dorothy to knit as not only does it keep her busy, but it keeps her arms and hands moving too.

Dorothy spends a lot of time on her own between care calls and so knitting really helps her to pass time. She knits everything you can think of. She’s even knitted hats for our Care Professionals and baby cardigans for those that are expecting babies. Dorothy is truly a one-of-a-kind, genuine caring soul.

“I’d like them to go to the hospital, but if anyone else wants baby hats they’re welcome. But, the hospital would be a good place, there’s a lot of little babies in the hospital.”

Dropping off the hats

The hats were delivered to the neonatal unit by both Sally Fern, Business Development Manager and Sarah Underhill, Registered Care Manager.

They definitely picked the right day to pack up the hats and hand them over. When they arrived, the hospital was in the thralls of celebrating World Prematurity Day, a global movement to raise awareness of premature birth and the impact it can have on families.

The hospital was raising money by selling all kinds of lovely trinkets, baby art and even hosted a prize draw.

Dorothy’s lovely little hats were placed neatly in a basket along with a wonderful children’s book and a cuddly giraffe. The hospital was really grateful for the donation and it was amazing to see Dorothy’s hard work pay off. The hats are now adorning the heads of vulnerable children that need them, keeping them warm and comfortable during their time on the ward.

Our clients are like family

Dorothy has been receiving care from us for some time now, she’s a real chatterbox and she’s always keeping our Care Professionals busy. To us, Dorothy is family and we make sure she knows it. Our Care Professionals are always going above and beyond to make her feel comfortable and cared for with dignity and respect.

Dorothy had this to say about our Care Professional, Richard:

“He washes up, he sees to everything, tidies everything, makes me a cup of tea and gets me a couple of biscuits. They get the biscuits and the jam and whatever else I want. They’re very good, they do everything that I want them to do. They’re always asking ‘can we do anything else?’ and I always say, I wish there was something else for you to do!”

It’s important to us that our clients feel valued and well looked after. By building great relationships with our clients, we’re able to bring out the best in one another. In this case, we’ve been able to help Dorothy deliver some TLC to vulnerable children that need it.

If you’d like to explore our home care services and find more information on how we are helping the nation age well, head over to our services page. Alternatively, if you’d like to change someone’s life and join a team of valued and supported Care Professionals, you can find out more on our care jobs page.