Anne Jones and her friends have been knitting and crocheting blankets since May to give to Ruff Luck Rescue, which rescues and rehomes dogs in the Birmingham area. The charity, from Castle Bromwich, rescues dogs that are abandoned. Without the charity, which has rescued nearly 650 dogs in three years, most of them would face being put to sleep after being in the pound for seven days.

"My friend helps out with this charity so I thought it would be nice," said Anne, who is in charge of the project. "Everyone's heard of bigger places like the Birmingham Dogs' Home, and I thought it would be more special for us to help a smaller charity."

Lisa Doody, who started the Charity three and a half years ago, said: "There is no age limit or specific breed of the dogs we take in and we try to find a new home for them all."

Volunteer receptionist Dorothy Hardiker has knitted 732 squares on her own, each one with thirty stitches and a different pattern. Dorothy said: "I suffer from spinal problems which have stopped me knitting with big needles, but I could manage this. I used to do it whilst watching the football on television and the more exciting the game the faster I knitted."

Another volunteer, Sheila Harris, used to be in the Village's crocheting group, which recently finished. She then joined the knitting group and, with her crochet skills, became their "outreach worker", joining all of the individual squares to create the blankets.

Several residents at New Oscott Village have adopted rescue dogs. They provide company for their new owners and now have a secure home, having been saved from an uncertain future.

Picture:

New Oscott volunteers and residents pose with representatives of the Ruff Luck rescue dog charity after knitting a blankets for them. Far right: Anne Jones, who organised the event, and Lisa Doody, who founded the charity.

See more pictures on Flickr.

For further information, please contact:

Lucy Henson, PR officer
0789 105 3062
lucy.henson@extracare.org.uk