Luxury Blankets For Charity

Today I want to show you these beautiful blankets. They are woven in Scotland, in limited editions of sixty and signed by the artist. Obviously they will keep you warm, and frankly with all these storms we could do with a bit of that, but they were also designed to be hung on the wall as art. And hanging rugs on the walls fits right in with my delusions of grandeur and fantasies of living in a castle.

Anyway, I’m going to tell you the price now. Yes, you know there would be a catch to it. But then, before you rush off huffing and puffing, I’m going to tell you story behind that price. And while you might not be able to buy one yourself, you might share the story and perhaps it will reach someone who can.

For every blanket that is sold – at £1,100 – another ten are knitted and given to children who need warmth, and we don’t have to think very hard to work out who they might be at the moment. These ten blankets are made by men and women living in disadvantaged communities who are taught and paid to knit with funding from Inigo Scout, who work with the charity Knit for Peace.

Their first project is taking place in the Cape Flats of Cape Town, South Africa. More projects will follow around the world as the enterprise grows.

There’s another reason why I wanted to tell you about this company and that is for a reason close to my heart. Inigo and Scout are the twins of founders Josh and Lisa Robinson and were born six weeks prematurely. They were very unwell and spent two months in intensive care.

“At the hospital, a cardboard box of colourful blankets knitted and donated by locals was the source of enormous physical and emotional comfort to both the children in care and their parents,” said Josh.

And I can testify to that. My younger son, who is now 12, was born 15 weeks prematurely at 25 weeks and spent three months in hospital. He is completely fine now, but there were lots of knitted blankets and woolly hats knitted by volunteers and it was indeed a lovely thing.

Inigo and Scout are now two years and nine months old (at the time of writing) and completely fine. As is my son.

“When Inigo and Scout came through their tough early days, Lisa and I were determined to build a social enterprise that would bring warmth and comfort to children less fortunate than our own,” says Josh.

“The idea for the ‘world’s most beautiful blankets with a soul’, embraced our shared passion for creativity, craftsmanship and entrepreneurialism and to give something back.”

So yes they are expensive but I’m going to leave the last word with Patricia, who represents Inigo Scout and who first told me their story.

“When I met Josh, my first thought was ‘heck, I’d never spend that much on a blanket.'”she says. “But it made me think about what I have spend a lot of money on for my house – such as prints from the Affordable Art Fair and some of my Danish rosewood furniture is probably worth around £1000 (although bought cheaply 20 years ago), my stainless steel worktop in the kitchen, a 1970s swivel leather armchair…

“Women spend crazy money on handbags and shoes that don’t last a lifetime and so it made me think twice. And perhaps it will encourage consumers who do have that kind of money to think about purchasing in a socially responsible way and that should be the way forward for luxury brands.”

And there you have it. If you want to share this post that would be another way of helping out too.