Warning – this is really a proud father story. My eldest daughter Courtney is now 34. Back in 1990, when I was just 27, and my wife Michelle 24, Courtney was born in a hurry at 29 weeks at the old National Women’s Hospital, weighing under 1100gms. We never knew anything about premature birth (we hadn’t done any anti-natal classes!) and it was scary times. While it was a difficult period, it was a time when our family developed a strong appreciation of our baby doctors and nurses and the work of the staff at the Special Care Baby Units (SCBU). Courtney spent the first four months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland. Fast-forward 34 years and Courtney is a mother of two herself and the founder and driving force behind an organisation called Premmie Knitting Club. She’s giving back – that makes me so proud. Premmie Knitting Club has been working with Well Foundation and North Shore Hospital for the best part of a decade, donating knitting and much needed furniture and equipment. Their reach goes much wider as well.

If you’ve been through the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at North Shore Hospital or know a baby being cared for in the unit, chances are they’ve worn a Premmie Knitting Club creation to keep them cozy during their stay.
Premmie Knitting Club (PKC) is a registered charity based on the North Shore providing knitted items for hospitals and organisations right across New Zealand and also fundraising for premmie-related causes. The group facilitates donations to North Shore Hospital (alongside other local groups) and operates as a virtual tribe of knitters with a loyal community online on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Premmie Knitting Club also increasingly fundraises for hospital equipment and other much needed items through the sale of fundraising clothing that its community eagerly supports annually, with all profits going towards buying items that the hospitals identify that they need the most.
“I started the very first knitting appeal when I worked at Spark in 2015. I wasn’t a knitter – and I’m still not one – but I would often mention to colleagues that I wished I could help in some way,” explains Courtney, reflecting on how the initiative came about. “My colleague, Leah,  had a relative who knitted but didn’t know who to contact at the hospital so she suggested that I organise a knitting drive and recruit knitters so that’s how it started.”
During this time, Courtney realised there was  tribe of amazing people out there willing to help: family, friends, friends of friends, colleagues and even people she had never met but who love to knit. Some wanted a cause to knit for, while others had a personal connection to the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit). The first hospital Premmie Knitting Club donated its collection of knitting to was North Shore, given Courtney's family’s connection to the area.
After a few years of steady growth aided by personal friends, colleagues and family, Courtney noticed the group growing at a fast pace during the pandemic. People needed something to do and new hobbies, so she found messages to the group increased and Premmie Knitting Club began to receive a lot more knitting. She says that being a non-knitter and running a knitting charity is a funny position to be in, but luckily the group was able to call on the expertise of Natalie Iogha who now sits on the Premmie Knitting Club volunteer board and advises on the knitting side of things, creates patterns and generously donates a lot of time. Courtney also has the support of her mother Michelle and other volunteer board members who contribute to keep PKC running smoothly.
This organic growth has been significant. It’s seen Premmie Knitting Club expand across New Zealand as they’ve had so much knitting to donate.
“We’re so grateful for the support of our volunteer knitters across the country. We’ve recently begun a Christchurch local hub which is run by local volunteers and aims to keep South Island donations local and foster a really grass-roots presence. Ideally, we’d love to expand our local hubs across New Zealand,” says Courtney.
The charity also fundraises for equipment and other items needed by hospitals. Well Foundation, specifically for North Shore Hospital, was the very first hospital they supported.
During the early days of the charity, Premmie Knitting Club would make monetary donations to Well Foundation to assist with improvements to their premmie units. Most recently the group donated a whānau bed and was involved in the purchase of an intubation tool.
Through sales of the fundraising clothing, PKC donated $3,000 towards the video laryngoscope intubation tool. This piece of equipment helps doctors identify and respond to unpredicted difficult airway cases faster, to ensure success at intubation for vulnerable infants and making the procedures less stressful for all involved.
The purchase of the whānau sofa bed for the North Shore SCBU provides families with an additional space to bond with their baby and help in the transition from hospital to home life. Parents often comment how useful these beds are during their stay.
Premmie Knitting Club is always looking for knitters to get involved or people to donate wool that its knitters will turn into creations for prem babies.

For more information visit PKC's great website, and make sure you follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
premmieknittingclub.org
Facebook.com/premmieknittingclub
Instagram: @premmieknittingclubnz