One of many community projects made possible by Dry July your generous support is the Weaving into Wellbeing project. In collaboration with the Australian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne, Nicole and the Carterie team distributed eighty hand looms throughout the hospital. Patients and visitors set to work weaving colourful layers of thread and cloth into simple tapestries. Over a period of months, the looms were completed and delivered back—some in the mail from patients and families who had gone home—and the tapestries were assembled into wall hangings. For most of the participants, weaving was a new skill. Intricate and absorbing, it helps to focus the mind and keep the hands busy during waiting periods or hospital stays.

The simple, repetitive nature of weaving appeals especially to carers, many of whom come to appreciate Carterie’s visits during long or frequent visits. “We do a lot of projects with Carterie, but this one really touched me,” says Nicole. “One person, in particular, comes to mind: a carer who spent several months by her partner’s bedside in the ICU.”

“She said to me, this is my lifeline. To have somewhere to go every week, someone to talk to, a new skill to learn—it kept me going.” The weavings now hang in the waiting rooms for other patients and families to enjoy.