BLANKETS for a church in Somerset have come flooding in after an appeal from a member of the community.

Kate Livingstone, of the funeral directors A. J. Wakely & Sons, noticed how cold it was at a funeral in St Mary’s, Ilminster, and put out a call for blankets. She did not mind what they looked like, or where they came from; she simply wanted to help to keep worshippers warm.

By the beginning of this week, more than 30 blankets had arrived, all hand-knitted, in varying shapes and sizes. “We’re not going to turn any away,” she said. “Any excess can go to other churches in the area.”

Blankets have been dispatched from neighbouring towns, including Minehead, Wincanton, and Chard. Notices in shop windows have encouraged contributions, and the BBC has also reported the story.

“I was delighted, then, when Wakely’s, with whom we have a close relationship, approached me with this fantastic idea, which seems to have so captured the imagination of Somerset’s knitters,” the Area Dean of Somerset South, the Revd Joanna Stobart, said.

A new boiler had been installed in the Minster about two years ago, but its operation had been delayed by the need for an upgrade in the market town’s electricity supply. “The Minster is at the heart of our town, and, in a close-knit community, everyone has been very aware of the problems we faced first for a whole winter without heating, and then getting our new boiler up and running,” she said.

Speaking of the “challenges on our journey to a more eco-friendly way of heating our beautiful church”, she said: “Looking ahead, addressing how we keep warm in our ancient buildings, as well as caring for God’s creation, may need some homespun — or even knitted — solutions alongside technological ones.”

Ms Livingstone first noticed blankets for congregational use in baskets in a church in South Petherton, a couple of years ago, and is pleased to expand the initiative to Ilminster. “It’s community-minded, and I’m passionate about being part of this community,” she said.