By JOLENE OGLE
INJURED animals will be more comfortable now thanks to the Noosa Arts and Craft Group, which donated more than 60 hand-knitted pouches to Wilvos last week.
Club secretary Carole Castle suggested the knitting drive as a way to help the animal rescue group Wilvos, which is operated purely by volunteers.
Ms Castle said she got the idea to knit the pouches after seeing a similar initiative on TV.
“Being a craft centre, a lot of us knit,” she said.
“I thought there must a local (animal rescue group) we could help.
“We’ve been knitting since April and every morning we would come in and ask ‘how many did you knit last night’.”
Ms Castle said she was hesitant at first, not expecting a big response to her bid for animal pouches.
But with a total of 61 pouches and 189 inner-pouches created by members, she said she was “very pleased with how it turned out”.
Wilvos community awareness officer Roslyn Leslie said the arrival of the pouches was perfectly timed with the peak animal rescue season, which is in full swing.
“This is a very busy season at the moment, especially after the rain and storms.” she said.
“But this is a job from the heart. It’s a rewarding job when you see the animals go back into the wild.”
The pouches, which were knitted in a small and large size, will be used by baby possums and small animals during their recovery before being released back into the wild.
Noosa Arts and Craft president Jan Bentley said they could have knitted the pouches in plain colours but decided to add stripes for a bit of variety.
Ms Leslie said she didn’t believe the animals would mind at all, so long as they’re happy and warm.
Ms Leslie said Wilvos was always looking for new volunteers to join the animal rescue teams, with a number of different positions and jobs available.
The next volunteer induction day is 16 November. Visit www.wilvos.org.au for more information or to register.
