News

Get Knitting for CrossReach

Monday April 1 2019

The Church of Scotland’s social care operator has appealed to supporters to knit 150 ‘Wellbeing Octopuses’ to mark the organisation’s 150^th anniversary.

The octopus, named Calamari SHANARRI, was introduced by CrossReach last year in support of the Scottish Government’s Getting it Right for Every Child initiative (GIRFEC). The name is an acronym for the eight wellbeing indicators, one for each leg of the octopus: Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included.

Resources explaining more about GIRFEC and expanding on each of the wellbeing indicators are also available.

The idea of the toy, which was developed by CrossReach’s GIRFEC development advisor, Tanya Anderson, is to help children and people who work with them engage with the eight wellbeing indicators. Tanya said: “It became clear that the best way to look at incorporating GIRFEC into everyday usage was by starting with the children themselves.”

To learn more and find a pattern for the Octopuses, visit https://www.crossreach.org.uk/taxonomy/term/28 or email Tanya on tanya.anderson@crossreach.org.uk