Laois dressmaker Dorothy Anne brings festive hope to Third World kids

IN PORTLAOISE last Thursday, work was underway filling 750 Christmas shoeboxes for disadvantaged children overseas when volunteer extraordinaire and ex-dressmaker Dorothy Anne Reid arrived with 550 knitted hats and 535 handmade fabric bags for teenage girls.

Dorothy Anne, who will be 82 in January, and her husband Albert from Derry, Rosenallis arrived with their filled with bags of her wonderful creations, which she has spent the last ten months creating.

Speaking to the ***Laois Nationalist*** the amazing volunteer said that she has been knitting hats and making handbags since February. Ms Reid said: “I made the bags first and stored them on wooden shelves in my spare room. Then I go around the charity shops collecting wool and I tell them that I’m doing it for the shoebox appeal, so they look after me.

“I buy fancy curtains, duvet covers and single sheets to make the bags. I take the tape off of the top of the curtains and use the fabric for the bags and the lining for the lining of the bags, so nothing gets wasted.” “I knit one hat in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. When family comes around, I stop for a break. My husband Albert is a great support. He makes me my tea and he also brings me my breakfast in bed every single morning.” Ms Reid said that three years ago a Team Hope volunteer asked her to help with packing shoeboxes and she noticed that teenage girls had very little. She said: “What you give a teenage girl is very difficult because you can’t give make-up and they don’t really want a load of sweets. So I thought that I could start using up the pretty materials from when I was making debs dresses and wedding gowns to make bags for them. This is my third year doing it and I enjoy it immensely because it is creative to see what colours go with what.

“Three ladies were passing my house coming from Birr one day and they saw the old dressmaker sign from years ago. They stopped and rang the doorbell and told me that there was a ribbon factory in Roscrea that closed down and said that they had a big box of ribbon in their attic and asked me if I could use it.

“I was delighted and said that I certainly could use it and that’s how I started making the bags. They brought me huge bales of lace and I’m still using it.” Laughing, Ms Reid said that she wore out two pairs of knitting needles this year and that she had to get new ones!” A 40-foot articulated truck is due to collect the shoeboxes towards the end of November, leaving an opportunity for people who wish to call into the centre with donations to do so on weekdays. The centre is located at the side of the old Miller’s Hardware premises on the Dublin Road near Downey’s garage.

Items to be donated include what Team Hope refers to as the four Ws – items to wash with, items to wear, items to write with and wow, including toys and sweets. People can also donate full shoeboxes or €5. More information on suitable gift items is available at www.teamhope.ie.