Creative knitter Frankie Brown has notched up an amazing £20,000 for charity by making her patterns available in exchange for a donation. Frankie, who lives in Banbury, began posting her designs on the knitters’ website, Ravelry, 11 years ago to raise funds for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF), a charity which is very close to her heart.
“I knew about CLDF because my friend’s son Alex, was diagnosed with the rare liver disease, biliary atresia,” explained Frankie. “They are a small charity but have been there with information and support right from the start. I could see how valuable this was to Alex and his family so I thought that using my patterns as a fundraiser could be a good way of giving something back.”
Frankie’s instinct was right. Her designs, particularly her Ten Stitch patterns, proved popular and the donations started coming in. There are now 517 patterns on the site (which can be seen at https://www.ravelry.com/designers/frankie-brown) and although Frankie now intends to start making a little more time for herself, she has no intentions of stopping.
“I think crafts have always been more popular than the non-crafters have realised, and I’m still really pleased about the fundraising total. I would design patterns anyway but watching the total slowly grow definitely spurs me on when I’m tired.”
Frankie’s fundraising milestone coincides with a major milestone for the young man who inspired her. Alex, now 21, received a liver transplant in July and is now recovering at home and hoping to return to university next year.
“I don’t know much about knitting but what Frankie has done is amazing,” he says. ”CLDF has always been there for me and when I was younger I had great fun going on trips they organised and meeting other people my age who had a liver condition. It’s great that she has been able to raise so much to make sure young people continue to get that kind of support.”
Alison Taylor, Chief Executive of Children’s Liver Disease Foundation commented: “CLDF is the only UK charity dedicated to fighting all childhood liver diseases, by providing information and emotional support, funds for research and a voice for all those affected. In order to do this however, we rely on voluntary donations, so we are delighted with Frankie’s achievements. It’s an amazing total and it’s wonderful to see that someone can put their talent to good use in such to support young people like Alex throughout the UK.
You can support Frankie’s fundraising for CLDF by going to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/frankiesknittedstuff.
