Knitted hats help raise £10k for hospital charity

A woman who has raised £10,000 by knitting hundreds of hats has said she intends to double her fundraising target.

Sarah Dargue, from East Heslerton, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2020.

She has also taken part in sporting challenges alongside making the hats to raise funds for the York & Scarborough Hospitals Charity.

The organisation described Ms Dargue as an "inspiration" and said the money raised would make a difference for patients and their families.

Ms Dargue, 51, created the woolly bonnets along with her friends, family, and neighbours to sell at craft fairs.

They proved to be popular attire with £1,000 worth of woollen headgear being sold at one fair last Christmas over two days.

The success of her efforts has now prompted her to raise her fundraising target to £20,000, which she said she wanted to reach by the end of the year.

“When I found out I had cancer I wanted to do something to spread awareness of how important it is to make sure that you check yourself, so naturally helping the hospital charity was an obvious choice," she said.

Chris Fowler, who helped her daughter create and design the hats, said: "We’ve had some very kind people donating wool to help.

"We’ll come home some days to find boxes of wool on our doorstep, the community has been fantastic."

As well as selling her hats, Ms Dargue has participated in charitable sporting challenges including the Get Caked 5-mile (8km) muddy challenge in the grounds of East Yorkshire's Sledmere House on 20 April.

She said she realised the importance of being fit and healthy when an oncologist told her regular exercise could help prevent "this horrible disease returning".

"I have enjoyed the fitness challenges and my family and friends have been supportive," she added.

Charity manager Rachel Brook described Ms Dargue as "an inspiration" who went "above and beyond" to support breast cancer services.  

She added: "The money she has raised will make a difference for patients and their families for years to come."

Ms Dargue said: "I want to let other patients know that they are not alone, we can all do what we can to fight this together.".

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