Joan, Knitting Volunteer

Joan is a keen knitter and has been doing it ever since she was a little girl. So when she heard about Hestia’s volunteer opportunity to teach knitting to women who have experienced of domestic abuse she thought it was a great way to put her skills to good use. Joan has now been a knitting volunteer for over 5 years and has helped a large number of women and their children through her classes.

Hestia’s domestic abuse refuges are a place for many women and children to transition into their new lives. It is volunteers like Joan who support these journeys. Joan teaches women and children how to knit. 

 

“Knitting is a great activity because it allows people to open up and talk while they knit. Women often don’t get a chance to share how they feel in the midst of so many changes happening around them and [our sessions help] these women to open up and forget for a few minutes about the many problems they are going through.”

Joan

Since her time at Hestia, Joan remembers one woman in particular who spent time together learning to knit who had enjoyed it so much that she was thinking of turning her newly learned skill into a business opportunity. 

This particular woman left the refuge soon after to begin her new business. However classes like Joan’s play a really important role to help the women and children to feel settled during their time with us - providing a safe and calm space to begin healing.