11/05/2026
Destined for premature babies in Ukraine, the Rotary Club of Forfar is delighted to accept 250 BABY HATS from the Craft Group and other knitters of Forfar: All Souls Church Anchorage .
This amazing knitting effort was co-ordinated by Reverend Maggie Hunt, who oversees The Anchorage drop-in centre on West High Street and is a valued supporter of Forfar Rotary. The hats (as well as some gorgeous little cardigans and mitts!) will initially be sent to the International Rotary Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals, who have been in constant contact with medical facilities in Ukraine since the war there began, supporting wherever they can. They will arrange onward transit of the knitted items to medical locations where maternity care, particularly premature, is most needed.
In Ukraine cold temperatures combined with ongoing disruptions to the power supply, are putting many vulnerable newborns at serious risk. A simple way to reduce the risk is to provide them with small soft hats! There is strong medical evidence behind this request. A newborn’s head is proportionally much larger than an adult’s, making it a major source of heat loss. When left uncovered, babies can lose warmth rapidly — increasing the risk of complications and, tragically, even death.
Hats, together with Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) wraps, offer mothers a safe and effective way to keep their babies warm through skin-to-skin contact. KMC is proven to improve feeding and growth, reduce infection, and dramatically increase survival rates for small and pre-term infants. So far, the national Fellowship (see above) have supplied 10,000 KMC wraps and 10,000 knitted hats.
Well done and THANK YOU Forfar! Another instance of seemingly small activities having a HUGE and LIFE-SAVING impact 🙌😍🙏😍