BLOG: Pocket hugs are a labour of love for Lyn

Sometimes all you need is a hug and a whole box full of pocket cuddles has arrived on St Luke’s doorstep recently, courtesy of a kind-hearted and talented Plymouth woman who wants to bring a little bit of comfort to people when they need it most.

Small, round and woolly little faces, with googly eyes, tiny arms clutching a heart and a loop to hang them up with, Lyn Frost has crocheted them with love in a variety of colours and wrapped them in organza bags to keep them safe until they find the right homes amongst St Luke’s patients and their families.

“When you are having a tough time, a hug is just what you need.,” said Lyn from Plymouth, who also wanted to say thank you to St Luke’s for the care her father received a few years ago. “I thought they would cheer people up and maybe they could also raise a little bit of money for St Luke’s if anyone wants to make a donation.”

Lyn has ME which limits her mobility, so crafting gives her something interesting and useful to do at home. “I can move around inside the house but when I go out and about I’m in a wheelchair,” she said. “My husband has turned the spare bedroom into craft room for me and it’s my little haven.”

She taught herself to crochet using YouTube videos during the Covid lockdown and joined an online group called Random Acts of Crochet Kindness, which gave her the idea, and the pattern, to knit the pocket hugs for the first time.

“I made a slightly bigger version for a friend who had lost her mum and she had it hanging on her memorial, so I decided to make these ones for St Luke’s,” said Lyn, who also make things for the special care baby unit at Derriford, the homeless, and fidget balls to help people with dementia or autism.

The colourful pocket hugs are available at our specialist unit at Turnchapel for patients and their families and as it says on the handwritten tag, are ‘for those times you need a little hug’.