An eight-year-old girl from Aberdeenshire has crafted a blanket out of crisp packets to support the homeless in her area.
After discovering she could make a blanket out of crisp packets through a TV show, Ruby Clark, from Westhill, decided to make her own to help keep someone warm.
She spent weeks collecting and drying out empty packets before putting them all together with some help from her mum, Kerry Clark.
“Ruby came home from school with a pile of empty crisp packets and the idea of turning them into a blanket after seeing it on Newsround,” Mrs Clark told us.
“She kept bringing empty packets home that her friends had given her at break and lunch times. She took over my whole utility room for a while there.
“I just left her get on with it, using what she saw on the TV. She washed them all out and cut them open. I did help her iron them all together – it took a bit of practise to get the temperature right.”
Once completed, the Elrick Primary School pupil gave the blanket a test run before packaging it up and sending it to Aberdeen Cyrenians with a handwritten note.
Supporting a local charity
Ruby decided to support Aberdeen Cyrenians as part of her Brownie’s charity badge after discovering how they support the homeless community in the north-east.
Mrs Clark added: “She wanted to donate the blanket to someone or a pet to keep them warm, so went through different local charities and spotted Aberdeen Cyrenians.
“I helped her look up their website and she decided it looked ideal for her aim.”
Ruby was “very excited” when she heard the charity had received her blanket and “brought a lot of happy smiles” to the team.
They sent her a thank you note and also shared a post online to publicly thank her for the donation, saying she had “really made a difference to someone struggling right now”.
“She was so delighted reading all of the Facebook comments, she loved it,” Mrs Clark added.
Chris Bennett-Taylor, CEO at Aberdeen Cyrenians, said: “We were so touched by Ruby’s gift to our service users. To know that our younger community members can be so thoughtful and resourceful is heart-warming; it absolutely made our day.
“Ruby – you are amazing and will have really made a difference to someone struggling right now! Thank you, from all of us, for your generosity and caring.”
