Edinburgh City’s Iconic Giraffes Receive Yarn Bombing Makeover for Charity
Iconic giraffe sculptures at OMNi Edinburgh have been lovingly yarn bombed just in time for the festive season in a bid to raise awareness of a special charity fundraising prize draw. Throughout November and December, OMNi Edinburgh is inviting the public to enter its online charity prize draw for a chance to win an Edinburgh City Experience worth over £1,500.
Enter Now: Tickets are £5 each and funds raised will be donated to charity partner, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS)*.
Funds raised will help the charity provide unwavering care to children who may die young and their families during every stage of their journey. One lucky prize draw winner will walk away with a terrific prize bundle which includes a 2-night stay at The Glasshouse, a tasty £200 to spend at Edinburgh Street Food, 2-day bus and tram passes courtesy of Lothian, a £400 shopping voucher, a £100 Vue cinema gift card and The Edinburgh Dungeon attraction passes. The majority of the prizes up for grabs have been donated by local businesses who were thrilled to take part in supporting CHAS and OMNI’s fundraising efforts.
Giraffes Martha and Gilbert will be standing even taller and slightly warmer this Christmas as they proudly don their bespoke knitted hats and scarves in the CHAS charity colours. Sourcing and producing the knitted items on time has been achieved through a fantastic sense of community spirit. Local knitter Marjorie McCreadie of Teviotdale Arans in Hawick Scottish Borders joined forces with Allan Godfrey and Kevin Barrie of Teviot Knitwear, a small artisan manufacturer in Hawick, to deliver the knitted hats and scarves in time for Christmas. The fantastic trio have kindly donated their time and materials to help support OMNi’s fundraising efforts. Four kilos of yarn has been used in total; 4200m of yarn for the large giraffe scarf, enough to run 40 times the length of Murrayfield Rugby pitch, and a further 2800m for the smaller scarf, 26 times the length of the pitch. With the help of knitting experts Allan, Kevin and Marjorie, OMNi hopes to turn the knitted items into smaller pieces once the festive season ends to raise extra funds for the charity.
Martin Botha, OMNi Edinburgh Centre Manager, said: “Christmas is always an important time of year for us at OMNi, but this year feels extra special due to so many local businesses joining forces to try and make a real difference for such an important charity. A special thanks to the wonderful knitters, our Christmas decorations installation team Blachere Illumination, and prize donors The Glasshouse, Lothian, Edinburgh Street Food, Vue, Royal Yacht Britannia and The Edinburgh Dungeon. You have all been imperative to making our Christmas plans possible, and we’re thrilled to have you involved.”
CHAS Charity representative Sarah Dannfald, said: “We’re so pleased that CHAS is at the heart of OMNi’s Christmas activity this year. Seeing so many local businesses come together to support our charity has been overwhelming. The fundraising enables us to provide palliative care, family respite and support throughout Scotland, through our hospices, home care services and hospital presence. We’d like to thank everyone who’s involved, your efforts are very much appreciated.”
The online prize draw closes at midnight on 31 December 2024. Head over to the third party prize draw page to enter now and to view T&Cs
*5% of the total funds raised via the online prize draw will cover the online raffle platform admin fee.
