A 97-year-old woman who diligently knitted baby jumpers for the Keynsham-based charity Hope for Ukraine has died.
Dawn Elmer from the charity, which was formed at the start of the war in 2022, said Elvira Goss was knitting right up until the night before she went into hospital last month.
Elvira, who had 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, lived in Hanham for many years but in her later years lived in Creigiau, near Cardiff. Her daughter Sue, who still lives in Hanham, would collect a batch of jumpers when she went to visit her mum. Elvira had previously knitted items for orphans in Romania and had raised money for charities by knitting Nativity scenes. Failing eyesight and arthritis meant she could no longer knit fiddly things, but she continued to make jumpers.
Sue said her mother had sewed up the jumper, pictured above, the night before she went into hospital. “She told me: ‘I’ve finished a jumper. I think it may be my last. Please give it to Dawn.’ So I’ve given it to Dawn.” Elvira’s funeral took place this month at Thornhill Crematorium in Cardiff.
Hope for Ukraine volunteers are currently collecting, sorting and packing aid ready for the next shipment by lorry at the end of June which will include clothes for children and babies.
Originally published in The Week In, April 2024. Reproduced by kind permission