Born out of an observation made by an ambulance offer thirty years ago, a Nyngan community group is being established to put their knitting needles together in support of a worldwide cause. 

The Nyngan ‘Knit and Natter’ group is the new social group in town, inviting people to come together to knit ‘Trauma Teddies’ while finding companionship with one another. 

Nyngan Community Hub Co-ordinator Wendy Beetson said that knitting Trauma Teddies - an Australians Red Cross initiative - brings together a sense of contributing with a social outlet for community locals. 

“Trauma Teddies have been around for over 30 years…they came about when an ambulance officer noted the calming effect on a young child when using a teddy bear to calm them down. So the call went out to Red Cross volunteers to start knitting trauma teddies to be handed out in times of crisis,” Ms Beetson said. 

While some bears stay in Australia, others are sent across the world, comforting children across the globe. 

“So you might be a child in hospital, or the children that were airlifted from Mallacoota with the bushfire…a bunch of teddies went over to New York after September 11, they went to Indonesia where they had an earthquake,” Ms Beetson said. 

In the past 30 years, the Red Cross has accumulated over 7.5 million volunteer hours committed to the cause. 

While the gesture is noble, Ms Beetson acknowledges that in small towns like Nyngan, she doesn’t have high expectations that the group will draw the masses when it begins next week. 

“We haven’t got very many numbers, so there might be four or five people to start with. I’m hoping it will grow in time but it may not,” she said. 

The group isn’t exclusive to practised knitters, with a place for everyone.

“There might be people out there too who can’t knit. They can help stuff the teddies or sew on the faces. It’s just about meeting and having a chat with other people and getting out of the house,” Ms Beetson said. 

Ms Beetson intends to take ‘getting out of the house’ seriously, with plans to host the group in a new space each week, whether it be the library, a local coffee shop, or the new youth centre when it opens. 

In her role as Community Hub Coordinator, making sure that people in town know what is available at their fingertips is crucial to her, whether it’s someone who is new to town or has grown up there. 

“People think towns are dying and you know, we’ve got quite a few shops closed here as well. But once you get to know a community, there’s always that little vibrant community underneath and it’s surprising what happens in lots of small towns.”

The Knit and Natter group will begin next week. To join, contact the Nyngan Community Hub.