Volunteers from two Helderberg Catholic churches, St Peter’s in Strand and St Paul’s in Somerset West, came together on Saturday 20 August for a sleeping-bag workshop.
The joint workshop, initiated six years ago, is an annual winter activity where volunteers use old newspapers to make sleeping bags for the homeless. These are mostly DistrictMail and Helderberg Gazette copies collected by the community.
Rotary Claremont, in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, sponsors plastic bags and, armed with box tape, the volunteers make at least 100 sleeping bags every year over the course of four workshops.
Debby van der Westhuizen, a member of the St Peter’s Women’s Association, said over the past weekend a total of 23 sleeping bags were made.
“The sleeping bags are given to homeless services,” she said. “The bags help insulate against the cold weather and is crucial in keeping the less fortunate cosy and warm.”
