Charity Spotlight: The Big Knit

Innocent Drinks - award winning cause related marketing




Innocent have partnered with Age Concern since 2004 on an innovative Cause Related Marketing campaign called The Big Knit.
The project involves older people from Age Concerns around the UK, innocent consumers and Sainsbury's staff knitting little woolly hats to place on the top of innocent smoothie bottles. The bottles are then sold in Sainsbury's and for every one sold 50p goes to Age Concern to help keep older people warm at winter.
This year we smashed the target with a total of 400,720 hats being knitted and a total £200,360 being raised. We are thrilled at the level of support from around the country. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped us to hit this massive target. Celebrities also got involved by designing hats, as you can see from the photo that Chris Tarrant designed a fish themed hat which was kindly knitted into a full sized version by some very nifty knitters at Age Concern Surrey.
What sets this cause related marketing deal apart from many others is that it is so much more than an on-pack promotion. Not only does it raise much needed funds, it also engages directly with our service users and consumers through the mechanism of knitting. The promotion has far wider impacts:
Older people have the opportunity to pass on skills to younger, less experienced knitters giving them a sense of self worth
It brings people together in knitting groups thus creating new friendships and tackling the social isolation of older people
Innocent’s consumers are actively engaged by being encouraged to knit hats
Innocent see it as a quirky way to give something back to society
Innocents sales increase by over 40% during the campaign period
This project won the Business in the Community National Example of Excellence for Cause Related Marketing at the 2007 BitC Awards for Excellence.
To find out more about The Big Knit go to www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit








the big knit story
knitting patterns
big knit the movie
hatometer
faq's
the big knit flickr group
hat of the week
knitter-natter

knitting patterns
So you want to knit. Here are a few designs to get you started. The good news is that these little hats are small and simple. The bad news is that knitting them can get addictive. You have been warned.
If you'd prefer to print these patterns out to work from, or pass onto friends, we've made each one into handy A4 printable pdf files: beginners pattern pdf intermediate pattern pdf advanced patter pdf (you can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files here if you don't have it already)
To knit a little hat for our bottles you will need:
some RowanPure Wool doubleknitting yarn
Small needles(3 1/4mm should do)
A yarn sewingneedle
A pair of scissors
1. Pop your feet up with a cup of tea.
2. Using double knitting yarn and some small needles, cast on 28 stitches.
3. Knit 2 rows. Then, starting with a knit row, work in stocking stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row, knit 1 row etc) for 12 more rows.
4. For the next row, knit 2 together to the end (14 stitches). And for the row after that, purl 2 together to the end (7 stitches).
5. When you've finished, cut the yarn leaving about 25 cm. Thread the cut end of the yarn through a sewing needle, then run it through the loops and remove the knitting needle (fig. A).
6. Tighten the yarn (fig. B) and sew the little hat together at the side (fig. C). Once finished, turn it right-side out so that the seam you've just sewn runs up the inside.
7. Just to check you're on the right track we reckon when laid out flat, the hat dimensions should be about 5-7cm along the bottom and at least 3cm high.
8. Sew a little bobble onto the top of the hat. If you didn't learn how to make bobbles at school like us, ask at your local wool shop or department store – they'll be able to help you. 1. Relax in your favourite armchair.
1. Relax in your favourite armchair.
2. This time you need two colours. Using your main colour double knitting yarn and some small needles, cast on 28 stitches.
3. Knit 2 rows. Then, starting with a knit row and working in stocking stitch throughout (knit 1 row, purl 1 row, knit 1 row etc) do 2 rows of your second colour followed by 2 rows of your main colour. These 4 rows set your stripe pattern. Do 8 more rows in the same stripey fashion.
4. For the next row, knit 2 together to the end (14 stitches). And for the row after that, purl 2 together to the end (7 stitches).
5. Follow points 5 - 8 as per the beginners' hat to finish off.
6. Reward yourself with a snooze. Stay on the cutting edge of bobble hat fashion with these tasty

1. Stick the kettle on.
2. For this one you should use yellow and red yarn, and you'll also need some green for the stalk and leaves. Using your red double knitting yarn and some small needles, cast on 28 stitches.
3. Knit 2 rows. Then, starting with a knit row and working in stocking stitch throughout (knit 1 row, purl 1 row, knit 1 row etc) do the 12 rows as shown below.
4. For the next row, using green, knit 2 together to end, then for the next row purl 2 together to end (7 stitches), followed by the next row which is knit 1, knit 2 together three times (4 stitches).
5. Transfer the 4 stitches from the right to the left needle, pulling the yarn tight and knitting them again. Repeat six times. This is an l-cord and will be the strawberry's stalk.
6. To finish, knit 2 together twice then pass the first stitch
Just to check you’re on the right track, when laid out flat, the hat dimensions should be about 5-7cm along the bottom and at least 3cm high. With wool being stretchy stuff though, it’s difficult to give strict measurements. Therefore, if you can, it’s best to try fitting one on a smoothie bottle if you have one to hand.
innocent and Sainsbury’s will give 50p per bottle sold to Age Concern. Once you’re done, just pop your hats in an envelope along with your name, address and number of hats knitted, and send them to us by the 17th of October at this address:
The Big Knit Fruit Towers 1 The Goldhawk Estate Brackenbury Road London W6 0BA
ps. We always love to hear your stories. If you have any interesting facts behind the making of your hats, then please pop in a note. Good luck and thanks for helping out.