Elizabeth Granger
UCLan and Ri Young Scientist Centre Manager, University of Central Lancashire, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.103.17

In the heart of Preston city centre, we have group of dedicated volunteers who are crocheting colons and knitting neurons as part of our knitted body project. The group meets twice a week and it gives people a chance have a knit and a natter. The aim of the project is to bring older people together and engage them with Physiology. Once we have knitted our woolly body we’ll be taking out into local schools to teach 4-6 year old children about the body and healthy living.

The knitted body will be an interactive model once finished. It will have a skin that can be unzipped to show a foam skeleton with the knitted organs inside. Organs include the digestive system that knitted food can be fed through and knitted poo appear at the other end. We also have a squeezable heart, inflatable lungs and reversible kidneys. The model is designed to be hands on and simple to help explain the basic function of each organ.

During the school sessions, we will be teaching children through play using our knitted bodies. The idea is that they can explore the organs of the body whilst having fun. We will be linking the sessions to healthy living and trying to get the idea across that what we do and what we eat affects the insides of our bodies. With rising rates of childhood obesity and the health problems this can lead to, it is more important than ever to encourage children to think about the importance of being healthy from a young age. The sessions will also aim to create an early positive association with science for the children.

Whilst it is really important to engage children with science and the importance of healthy living, bringing people together at the knitting circles is just as an important part of the project. Some of our regular knitters are there to learn new techniques, some are keen to help out and others just come along to socialise. The sessions are led by Caroline Finnigan, a Fibre Artist, and supported by Biomedical and Pharmacy students. There’s a great mix of people from different backgrounds. As the project progresses friendships are being made and we are attracting more volunteers at each session. The knitting circles are being held in ‘InTheCity’, which is a pop-up shop run by the University of Central Lancashire that is hosting a range of community events. The central location makes this accesible for knitters from all areas of Preston.

The next stage of the project involves researchers in the field of Physiology attending the sessions to join in and have an informal chat about their work with the group. This will give researcher an opportunity to engage with the public in a relaxed environment and have a dialogue about their work. If you are based in the North West and would like to attend a session, please contact me via email at egranger@uclan.ac.uk. If you would like to have a go at knitting some organs yourself the patterns will be made available on Caroline’s website: http://carryyarnstitching.co.uk/. To keep up with the project follow the hashtag #knitbod.

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the generous funding of The Physiological Society through their Public Engagement Grant scheme.