“Are you still going to Manchester?” I was asked several times last week. The answer, of course, was “yes”. Our Crafting a Kinder World event had been arranged months ago, but its timing, following the bombing earlier on in the week made it particularly appropriate and especially important for me to be there.
Ready to craft
So, on Saturday, The Make It Shop opened to welcome anyone who wanted to join us for a spot of crafting. Originally we had intended to make random gifts to hang in the community garden, round the corner from the shop and next to Chorlton library, for anyone to take. But in the end we decided to do our little bit to fill Manchester with love and so we made hearts – lots of hearts – fabric hearts, paper hearts, crochet hearts, knitted hearts, foam hearts, felt hearts, cardboard hearts, sparkly hearts. We’d also received a parcel of hearts from Solidarity in Crafting of Leicester and these were added to our collection. Still, the intention was that they would be taken from the garden by anyone who wanted one… spreading the love even further.
We had a stream of lovely people during the day; all of them made at least one heart and some of them came with us to the garden to help with the decorating.
To begin with, there were just a few garlands on the railings:
The start of the day
But by the end of Saturday, we had a community garden filled with all sorts of hearts and flowers, just ready for anyone in need of some love to take away:
Not only that, but we also had our Kindness Tree in the shop, covered with little gifts:
So, if you are in Manchester, nip over to Chorlton and take a heart or a flower or another little gift, with love from us.
The Snail of Happiness 
Pat
/ May 29, 2017Many good stories coming out of Manchester. Well done!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017Lots of lovely people and some amazing scenes, which I’ll tell you about in a later post
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katechiconi
/ May 29, 2017Horrible stuff happens, and then the sheer blinding goodness of ordinary people comes and shines a light on it and makes the darkness go away just a little.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017Even when Danielle asked a bloke if he would mind not parking in front of the railings! He was off to the pub, but when she explained what we were doing, be moved his car.
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katechiconi
/ May 29, 2017There you go, even when you come between a bloke and his beer, he could be nice…
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Laurie Graves
/ May 29, 2017Wonderful! Your event turned out to be such a touching tribute.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017It was lovely… and I have more to tell in a further post.
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Laurie Graves
/ May 29, 2017Looking forward to reading more about it.
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nanacathy2
/ May 29, 2017I hope all the hearts have helped to ease the pain.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017I think that any act of kindness and solidarity with the city is welcome at the moment – there are certainly lots of lovely things happening.
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coppicelearner
/ May 29, 2017I hope they all get taken and treasured! We all need a little bit of love sometimes! I grew up just outside Manchester and have been struck by how communities have pulled together since the bombing. The intention was to disrupt lives and for the unfortunate people directly caught up in it that succeeded but it also enabled lots of people to show their love and compassion.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017Danielle has a large notice to put up in the garden inviting people to take the things that are there, so hopefully they will.
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thecontentedcrafter
/ May 29, 2017This is the way to respond to the sick of mind and the sick of heart. I feel so very proud of you that you went to Manchester anyway and were part of this amazing display of kindness and forbearance. Thank you, from someone who wasn’t there. xo
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017It was good to go and show support. My niece lives just round the corner from the mosque that the bomber was thrown out of and I was staying in an area where his cousin who was arrested lives. Despite these connections, the place was full of friendly people all going about their business. The Mancunians I met all seemed deternied to get on with life and not be intimidated.
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Murtagh's Meadow
/ May 29, 2017Wonderful 🙂 and well done.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 29, 2017Thank you – it was a lovely weekend.
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Wild Daffodil
/ May 29, 2017❤
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arlingwoman
/ May 30, 2017I love that you went and did this and there was a group of crafters on the spot. The decorations look magical on the fence of the garden. I hope they’ve all been taken home by someone!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 30, 2017Yes, I really hope that people don’t feel too embarrassed to take them… but if they stay in place for a while, I hope that they bring smiles to the faces of lots of passers-by.
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KerryCan
/ May 30, 2017It must’ve felt good to have a concrete course of action and a plan, in the face of chaos and uncertainty! Even if people just took a smile away from the garden, that is significant!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 30, 2017I’m hoping that lots of visitors to the library will enjoy seeing our work, plus it’s on a very busy road and next to a pub, so the footfall past the railings is really high.
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ May 31, 2017Oh, it looks like it was such a good day! I’m glad it went well, and it’s been so inspiring to read all the stories of Manchester’s people pulling together after the attack last week. Well done, and the community garden looks great!
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ May 31, 2017PS I spotted one of my bees on the park gate as well… Thanks for getting them involved in the event! I’m happy I was able to contribute in some way even if I couldn’t be there in person.
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uapsnu
/ June 1, 2017On that dreadful day, Manchester city became Manchester united.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 1, 2017Quite so
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Born To Organize
/ June 2, 2017The hearts always outweigh the darkness. Always. xo
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