GMB 100 knitted hats raise £2.5k for charity

Two local charities  - Orkney Blide Trust and The Youth Café - are to benefit from an equal share of £2,500 following the successful auction of more than 100 “hats for George”.

Orkney Library & Archive and the George Mackay Brown Fellowship auctioned off 111 hats which were knitted and donated from around the world as part of the celebration events for the centenary of Orcadian poet and writer George Mackay Brown who would have celebrated his 100^th birthday on 17 October 2021.

Orkney Islands Council’s Team Leader (Libraries and Archive), Karen Walker, said: “We would like to thank everyone who supported this campaign – from those who knitted a hat, placed a bid, shared the project or sent us a message of support. It has been amazing.

“The hat that received the most bids was An Orkney Tapestry (number 13) which received 27 bids and sold for an amazing £65. Several other hats received multiple bids and sold for between £40 and £60. We were overwhelmed by the number of beautiful hats and bids we received. If you didn’t win the hat you wanted but if you can knit, or know someone who can, you can buy a knitting pattern and knit your very own #GMB100 hat. We have patterns for seven of the hats available and you can find them all on our shop page”.

The Fellowship was launched to promote new creative writing in Orkney, as well as to celebrate Orcadian writers of the past, but for 2021 it is focusing entirely on highlighting Mackay Brown’s centenary.