Tavistock Street Pastor Jo Wright and her group of knitters and chatters have raised more than £600 for charity over the past months and welcome new friends.

The pop-in group meets every Wednesday in the Queen’s Head Wetherspoons pub in Tavistock for company and to unleash their embroidery, knitting and crochet skills in aid of their current cause of Macmillan Cancer Support. They knit dolls, teddies and topical characters for Chistmas and Easter. These are sold on the pub bar for charity.

Jo said: “Anyone can just pop along and be guranteed I’ll be here with my regulars for a warm welcome to simply have a chat, a drink, and if they want to, knit or crochet for our collection of mini-characters.

If you can’t knit, then we can teach you. We have people who are lonely or just needing to talk about something. Children can also come.”

Vicky Sanham brings her son Malachi, 7,: “The group’s informal and very welcoming. You don’t have to book. It’s also a safe space for me and Malachi who has adhd and is autistic. He and other children with similar issues can come here and learn social skills and be themselves, while we can got out and have some adult chat while doing some good. It’s very therapeutic making these little things to sell.” The group meets between 10am and 12 noon at Wetherspoons. It is holding a big charity sale of its creations on November 29.