Random acts of crochet kindness are being spread by a mother and daughter leaving hundreds of gifts and notes around Hillingdon.

Sharon and Kelly Dean started making and leaving out crochet gifts with small poems or uplifting sayings attached to them during the first lockdown and they have made hundreds more since.

The response has been extremely positive, with people sharing images of the gifts they have found in West Drayton and telling Sharon and Kelly how much it means to them in difficult times.

Sharon, 64, said: “The feedback we get is amazing. People really love to look for them!

"So many people were uplifted by finding flowers, rainbows, hearts, animal faces etc with a little poem on them.

“We have had some heart-warming messages. Particularly the ones left at Hillingdon Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital.”

In one moving message, Sharon and Kelly were thanked by a resident who found two crochet hearts outside Hillingdon Hospital while her mum was fighting cancer.

Her mother passed away holding one of the hearts and she kept hold of the other.

In another thank-you message, a resident said they found a crochet heart after scattering the ashes of their dog of 14 years and they vowed to treasure it.

Kelly, 37, was furloughed last March from her job in patient transport services at Hillingdon Hospital, and decided to fill some of her time by learning to crochet more intricate items than the blankets and squares she was used to making.

She soon got her mum Sharon, who she lives with in West Drayton, involved and it became a team effort to create random acts of crochet kindness.

Some of the poems are also written by dad Peter Dean.

Kelly goes out several times a week to spread the random acts of crochet kindness in the local area and the team have placed a few while out at hospital and dentist appointments.

The crochet gifts and poems are placed in parks, churches, cemeteries and hospitals.

When it is damp they are also placed in bus stops, outside doctors, and under the railway bridge.

Kelly and Sharon use leftover wool, as well as fabric donated by people who have seen their work, to make their creations and they have made hearts, flowers, poppies, rainbows, Halloween pumpkins, small animals and Christmas decorations.

They encourage those who find #RandomActsofCrochetKindness to share it on Facebook.

Random Acts of Crochet Kindness is a public group with over 20k members created by Olivia Dieterich in August 2019 just for this purpose - to share acts of kindness and reasons to smile!

Feature image credit: Sharon Dean