Connecting & Crafting
At Snowdrop Argyll, our craft groups are about far more than creating beautiful handmade items. They are spaces where people come together to connect, chat, support one another and feel part of something bigger.
Crochet Group
Crochet Group began during lockdown, when one peer leader started meeting with others online to crochet together and stay connected during a difficult and isolating time. As restrictions eased, the group began meeting outdoors before eventually settling into their regular Friday morning gatherings at the Centre, where they have continued to meet every week for the past five years.
The group is currently creating flowers for a community project and over the years has contributed many handmade items to support our wider community activities. These include Camerados themed tea cosies, teapots and mugs, bunting for the town’s Celts and Picts Festival, blankets for fundraising raffles and flowers for community projects.
Knitting Group
The Castaways meets every Tuesday for a relaxed afternoon of knitting, creativity and conversation. Group members work on their own projects while enjoying companionship and peer support.
Over the years the group has also generously created items for community use and fundraising, including warm scarves and handmade items for our Coorie Baskets, which were distributed to older members of the community during the pandemic. Knitted items also continue to be added to our Coorie Cupboard, helping ensure that any community member needing warmth and comfort can access them.
Quilters Group
Quilters Group creates beautiful handcrafted quilted items while sharing skills, friendship and creativity together. Their work combines artistry, care and community spirit, with many projects designed to support and comfort others.
Snowdrop Quilters
Meet every Wednesday to share conversation, creativity, and quilting skills while creating both individual and collaborative quilted pieces.
The group was established over 25 years ago, and today still includes one of its original members.
Although the faces have changed over the years, the reasons for coming together have remained the same — social connection, inspiring and motivating one another, sharing skills and ideas, learning new techniques, and raffling or selling their beautiful handmade creations to raise funds for the Centre.
The group’s skilled and beautiful work was showcased in 2025 when the Centre opened as Number 45 on the Art Map Trail for the Quilters Exhibition.
This year, thanks to funding from the Argyll and Bute Climate Action Network, the Snowdrop Quilters led workshops to create hand-quilted wraps called “Hugs” for people living with long-term conditions or challenging life circumstances who are unable to attend the Centre.
As well as being gifted to individuals across Argyll, the project also supported climate justice by:
Reducing textile waste through creative reuse
Helping people stay warm without relying solely on energy use
Building community resilience and inclusion by connecting people who are often left out of climate conversations
The “Hugs”, neck warmers, and lap blankets were made by individuals coming together to share skills, support one another, and upcycle donated fabrics.
Special thanks go to Betty Rhodick’s family for donating Betty’s fabric collection, which was used alongside fleece donated by Fyne Homes and The Community Shop.
The completed items are now being packaged and delivered by our Outreach and Wellbeing Workers to people in their own homes.
The group has since been shortlisted for the Argyll and Bute Volunteer Awards in recognition of this emotive, compassionate, and community-led project.