North Club’s crisp packets to be made into blankets for Ukraine
CRISP packets being collected at Northerners AC are heading to Guernsey Prison, where they will be made into survival blankets for people in Ukraine.
The Iron Man Survival Blanket project provides these recycled blankets for homeless people in the UK, and is now also turning its attention to those in need due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Northerners club welfare officer Kerry Tardif is also offender management unit manager at the prison, and said she had been interested in the project for a while.
‘It’s something I wanted to get involved with,’ she said,
‘North Club has been really supportive, as has the prison governor – we have a lot of interest.’
There is a collection point at Northfield for any washed-out crisp packets, which will then be sent to Guernsey Prison to be made into blankets by the inmates.
Mrs Tardif said the process involved cutting the packets into the right shape, washing them with soapy water, and ironing them together to seal them.
‘The prisoners are always keen to help with community initiatives,’ she added.
‘It’s another bit for them to give back to the community.’
The project was a small way islanders could help those in need.
‘I’m welfare officer for the club but we can extend that really to the wider community and help those less fortunate than ourselves,’ Mrs Tardif said.
‘The prison will collect them to a certain extent as well but the majority will come from the club.’
There were 75 crisp packets needed for each blanket, she said.
‘It will be a short-term initiative to start with but we will look at continuing it in the long-term as they are needed for homeless people in the UK as well.’
She said the initiative was a good way to recycle crisp packets, and also suggested using some of the blankets locally in the future.
‘We could give them to some churches and groups in Guernsey in case they are needed in an emergency,’ she added.
