Giving something back using my sewing skills

Having refocused my life to prioritise things I enjoying doing, rather than letting work rule everything, I am spending more and more time volunteering.

One of the organisations I support is the Swedish Church in London. The 'Syjunta', sewing club in English, meets every two weeks during term time. All of the ladies speak Swedish and most of them are well and truly retired, some having moved to England more than 60 years ago.

I affectionately call the ladies who are part of the Syjunta 'my sewing grannies'. I never met one of my grandmothers (mormor) as she passed away when my mother was a teenager, and my other grandmother (farmor) passed away when I was still very young, but I remember her lovely singing voice and painting talents with fondness.

Recently, the Syjunta lost one of our amazing members to cancer; her quilting skills were second to none, but she never ever wanted to hear how good she was. A lovely, humble lady, who never had any children of her own and who very fiercely told me "she was not a granny!". She is sorely missed, but many of us managed to spend some final time with her during the last few weeks, before she peacefully passed away during the night.

We are planning an exhibition of her works during the autumn and I am really looking forward to seeing all her lovely work properly displayed for everyone to admire.

Our last Syjunta for the term was today, and we are meeting again in September when we in earnest start preparing for the Christmas fair (22, 24 and 25 November 2018).

We'd love you to join us if you are able to speak Swedish and can come to our meet-ups in London. For many of the members, these bi-weekly sessions are their only chance to speak Swedish. Oh, and we always have lovely 'fika'!