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The Guild was set up in 1882 by Lady Wolverton who was asked by the Matron of an orphanage in Dorset to provide 24 pairs of hand knitted socks and 12 jerseys for the children. This request gave Lady Wolverton the idea of starting a small Guild amongst her friends to each knit not less than 2 garments a year to help the orphanage and other Charities in need of clothing. This small Guild has grown over the last 125 years and now distributes yearly, over 25,000 items of new clothing for men, women, children as well as household linen via relevant Charities to the sick and needy in the UK. Today, we remain the longest standing multidenominational Charity providing this service.

HRH Princess Alexandra

We still receive many knitted and handmade items from all over the country and we also purchase additional garments and linen from warehouses and high street shops with donations. We never know what we will receive and never cease to be amazed at the generosity of our Groups and supporters.

The Guild has always been divided into Groups. Each individual Group is headed by a President who elects a Vice President to help run the Group which is made up of friends and relatives. We have an Executive Committee, which meets regularly.

Groups raise money to purchase new items of clothing by holding coffee mornings, bridge games or other such functions. Some Groups ask for a monetary donation from each associate or a number of new items a year as their contribution. It is the responsibility of the President of each Group to pack and transport her Group’s contributions to St. James’s Palace on the first morning of Packing Week each year.

Today some Groups collect money and send it directly to our Treasurer which is put towards our warehouse shop. Every hundred garments sent in by a President entitles them to nominate a Charity in the UK to receive a grant of clothing from the Guild. The application must be approved by the Executive Committee. Once a Charity has been approved by the Executive Committee it will be contacted each year by the Secretary to see what its current requirements are.

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