Knitters save small lives with baby bonnets

IT'S a case of hats off to knitters across Edinburgh and the Lothians who have made thousands of baby bonnets in aid of charity Save the Children.

Local knitters have been part of a massive six-month campaign – Knit One, Save One – to preserve children's lives, which involved 75,000 baby hats being sent to the charity from people throughout Scotland.

Earlier this year the charity made a plea for the tiny life-saving hats and with the campaign now at an end, hats have already been sent to vulnerable babies around the world in Tibet, South Africa, Kenya, Burma, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

The woolly hats have meant the difference between life and death for newborn babies who are unable to regulate their own body temperature and therefore prone to catching pneumonia.

Knitters were asked to fill in action cards alongside their hats with personal messages that will be delivered to Gordon Brown next week.

Beverley Kirk, spokeswoman for Save the Children in Scotland, said: "We really are impressed and hugely grateful to the people of Edinburgh for getting stuck in to support our Knit One, Save One campaign – the response to this campaign has been fantastic."