LEYLAND super gran Linda Miller has knitted a snowman every single day of 2020 to raise money for her local children’s hospice.
The 73-year-old experienced a stroke six years ago, which left her with impaired vision and dementia, but she hasn’t let that stop her from knitting snowmen, which she sells for £1 each.
Linda rose to fame last year when her dedication with the needles landed her a spot on the ITV national news as part of their feature on Christmas heroes.
And the fame has helped boost sales, with a bumper £635 raised for Derian House Children’s Hospice this year – Linda’s best year yet.
“We’ve been inundated!” said Linda. “I’ve sold all 420 snowmen I made this year and lots of people were saying ‘take a fiver and keep the change’ because they knew it was for Derian House.
“I usually sell the snowmen on a stall in the local supermarket but this year we couldn’t because of COVID and so my husband Jim decided to go online and sales went mad!
Linda has knitted and sold the snowmen for Derian House for six years and knows the pattern off by heart.
Despite suffering two heart attacks and spending time in hospital recovering last year, Linda continued with her knitting.
“My eyesight has gone,” continued Linda. “But I just keep plodding on. I’ve been in hospital and not been well this year but I just keep going. It’s my way of supporting local children. I know this year has been hard work for a lot of families and this is my way of doing my bit. In a lot of ways knitting keeps me going and it’s also helping my favourite charity.
“This year I’ve had the help of Ribbleton Infant School in Preston, Eclipse Hair and Beauty in Euxton, Alison Carroll at the Folly café in Worden Park, Leyland and also friends and family.”
Linda’s funds have helped Derian House Children’s Hospice to look after local children and young people with serious illnesses from across the North West.
It costs the charity £4.8 million to run services every year, but only a small percentage of this comes from government funding, so Linda’s fundraising is greatly appreciated.
Caroline Taylor, Communications and Marketing Manager, said: “Linda is one of our most loyal fundraisers at Derian House and we absolutely adore her! She has not only raised a significant amount of money for Derian House over the years but she always flies the flag for Derian House and raises awareness of our work. Linda was one of the original fundraisers who raised money to buy the land the hospice was built on 27 years ago and she is still helping us out now – she is so dedicated and has helped so many families over the years with her fundraising. We can’t thank her enough.”