Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre – Former battery hen jumpers

A Knit and Crochet Club held at the Craft Centre at Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre in Somerset started to knit jumpers to keep former battery hens warm. The Club wanted to get other people involved to knit as many jumpers as possible and also gain publicity for the Centre.

The Centre was keen to get the knitting campaign in local and national press, as well as monthly craft magazines. People interested in knitting the jackets could download patterns from the garden centre website or visit the Centre.

It was agreed that it was essential for the campaign to link with a charity. The Craft Centre formed a connection with the Little Hen Rescue in Norfolk, which uses hen jumpers.

A release explaining the Craft Centre’s campaign was issued to local, trade and national press and monthly craft magazines.

The media release was covered in several regional newspapers and websites as well as The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Week, Love It, Pets Business World News and Crafts Beautiful.

The story also appeared stateside in People USA, Discovery Channel’s Planet Green and Northern California Angora Guild.

To add to this, Miranda McPherson, Craft Centre Supervisor was interviewed on Radio Five Live and the Chris Evans’ Show on BBC Radio 2. BBC Points West news also covered the story regionally and two former battery hens that benefitted from the jumpers appeared on ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

Sales at the Craft Centre increased by 15% in March 2010 compared to the previous year. The Craft Centre printed off 500 patterns for the hen jackets and so far 100 have been knitted and donated to Little Hen Rescue. Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre’s website had 1,400 hits in one day as opposed to its 200 hits average rate per day.