Kindness event at Bombed Out Church features 400 scarves made for homeless by Liverpool knitters

The Kindness Rocks event at the Bombed Out Church this weekend will bring together 400 scarves created by Liverpool knitters for homeless people.

Kindness Rocks was the idea of local author Sheryl Webster, who was inspired by a similar project in New York.

She wanted to show that even the smallest act of kindness can make a big difference by giving each homeless person what she calls ‘a warm hug in wool’.

“In New York they have something called Found But Not Lost, held in Bryant Park, where they put scarves out and let the homeless community just come and take them,” Sheryl explains. 

“I loved that idea, but safeguarding issues mean it’s not as simple as that here, so we decided to do our own version.

“At first I reached out to a couple of local knitting groups, including Knit and Natter at The Reader in Calderstones Park. They passed it on to other groups to get involved and it spread all over the city.

“When I started in June 2023, I thought I’d be lucky if I got 50 scarves, but now we’re actually around 400. It’s been phenomenal.”

In addition to the knitters who supported Kindness Rocks, Sheryl invited pupils from Liverpool College to write kindness tags to go with the scarves.

“I went to talk to Year 5 children about kindness and I gave them a few ideas about the sort of words that would make someone experiencing homelessness feel a bit more positive,” she says.

“A lot of the messages they wrote are really heartfelt, saying things like ‘keep it going’ and ‘don’t give up’, ‘you’ve got this’ and ‘you’re boss’ which is so Liverpool.

“Some children drew a rainbow or a sun, because they said they were the things that made them feel happy, so that was their own personal take.”

For Sheryl, who lives in south Liverpool, Kindness Rocks is the second project she’s organised to help the homeless.

She’s also gone into schools with Rock Your Socks, encouraging children to donate thousands of pairs of brand new socks to be given out to those in need.

This Saturday, February 15, all the scarves and handmade tags will be on display at the Bombed Out Church as a thank you to everyone who took part in the big knit.

There’ll be free children’s activities throughout the day, with live music and book readings 11am–11.30am and 2pm-2.30pm. They’ll include a reading by Sheryl of her Kindness Rocks book for 4-8 year-olds, and a performance by her 20-year-old singer-songwriter daughter Bethany.

“Then next week me and my youngest daughter Katy, who’s done a lot of work with me on this, will go to the Whitechapel Centre to hand over lots of the scarves,” says Sheryl.

“We’re also going to take some to Paper Cup Coffee because I’ve given them socks before and as quickly as they put them out, they’re taken by their homeless regulars so I know how much something warm is really appreciated.”

Read more features from The Guide Liverpool here.