Ruby Harvey, Year 8 student at Norton Hill School has been crocheting since September 2020. Since learning the craft, she has made Christmas decorations for the school’s learning support team and for her Head of House. Recently, as another act of kindness and generosity, she’s putting her skills to good use by providing crocheted hearts for the RUH.

Teaching assistant Sarah Johnson said, “During the Christmas holidays, I saw an advert from Molly Braham who works at the RUH. She was asking for people to crochet, sew or knit and donate hearts to be put into Butterfly Comfort Packs, which would be used in pairs to bring some comfort to bereaved families.”

The packs are provided on every ward at the RUH for end of life patients and loved ones. The compassionate hearts come in pairs - one heart remains with the patient and the other heart stays with the loved one. This is to symbolise a connection. The palliative care team distribute these out across the trust to wards that need them.

After hearing about the request from the Royal United Hospital through her teacher, Ruby got to work. In total, she managed to crochet forty eight hearts to donate to the amazing cause, meaning twenty four families could benefit from her efforts. These were all done in her own time using a lot of her own materials.

Proud of Ruby’s achievement, Sarah Johnson said, “This will bring lots of comfort to those families. Well done Ruby, an amazing achievement. Looking forward to seeing the finished scarf.”