​Shelter volunteer knits a blanket every week for 13 years

A charity shop volunteer has won hearts and minds of locals and tourists alike in the Ayrshire town of Prestwick by knitting nearly 700 blankets.

Fiona Burnett (47), who has learning difficulties, has volunteered at Shelter Scotland’s Prestwick shop for almost 13 years and has knitted a blanket every week for the charity since 2002 – that’s 676 blankets.

Locals and tourists often donate wool to the shop to help Fiona knit her creations, which sell for £4 each.

Fiona is one of our most valued volunteers...the effort she puts in is humbling

To date her blankets have raised over £2,700 for Shelter Scotland.

Fiona says: “The blankets started off as a bit of a one-off but when I saw that they were selling so well and raising money for a good cause, I decided to knit one every week. It takes me about four days to knit them from start to finish, but the money raised helps people for much longer than that.

“It’s good fun creating the patterns, and even better when I come in to the shop to find the blankets have sold.

“We had a customer from New Zealand who bought one. A lady who planned to take hers to an orphanage in Romania and local people who have bought them for loved ones.”

Fiona volunteers at the shop four days a week and has clocked over 10,800 voluntary hours.

Kerry Rankin, manager of Shelter Scotland’s Prestwick shop, said: “Fiona is one of our most valued volunteers and the time and effort she puts in from the minute she walks through the door to when she leaves is humbling.

“Her blankets are just beautiful and we often get customers coming through the door to see if her latest creations are ready for sale.”

Shelter Scotland helps over half a million people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness – and campaign to prevent it in the first place.