CHARITY workers are all fingers and thumbs pulling together a huge collection of thimbles to raise money for their hospice.
Thousands of thimbles have been donated over the years to St T’s, the St Teresa’s Hospice chain of charity shops.
Hospice eBay manager/volunteer Peter Bradshaw has appealed to collectors to come into the Darlington Superstore to thumb through the collection.
More than a thousand thimbles have been collected ranging from tourist trinkets to collectables from Aynsley and Delft, with examples in ceramics, wood and metal.
“We have everything from thimbles shaped like animals to others sporting the image of the Pope,” Peter said. “They have been bought from anywhere from Chatsworth to Cornwall and around the world too.”
St T’s shops are a major contributor to fundraising at St Teresa’s Hospice which needs £3m a year to maintain services for the people of Darlington, South Durham and North Yorkshire.
They are stocked through donations and house clearances. For more information visit https://www.darlingtonhospice.org.uk or call (01325) 254321.