A colourful message of 'hope' appeared at the Knap Gardens at the end of last week.

Strips of bright crochet have been wound along the bridge at the Knap Gardens spelling out the word to brighten peoples' day and remind them to keep looking forward.

The art comes from Fiona Rodgers, of Barry Hookers Crochet Group, who used to meet at Coffi Co for crafting and companionship before the lockdowns.

"Most of us are retired and enjoy crafting and friendship. I learnt to crochet when I was about seven or eight, bumbled along for a few years," said Fiona.

"I stopped when I had my daughter but took it back up about 10 or 15 years ago. I find it very relaxing, like a mindfulness thing.

"One of the ladies who used to come very sadly died.

"Before she died, she was in hospital for a long time and she was making lots of strips of crochet. She had slight dementia as well, so I think it just helped her to concentrate on things.

"When she died, her daughter gave me all this crochet and said 'look, we can't do anything with it, can you use it?'"

The Barry Hookers Crochet Group have previously decorated parts of the town with crochet flowers. As Fiona removed the flowers wound round the bridge at the Knap, an idea struck her.

"Somebody sent me a picture of the word hope that their church had done on the railing elsewhere in the country," said Fiona.

"I was taking down the other bits and I suddenly thought, 'yes, I've got some stuff in the loft'. I thought I could use those to make the word hope.

"So that's what we did. I started doing it on Monday, it didn't take too long because I had all the raw materials, and we finished on Thursday morning.

"We've all got hope and we've got to acknowledge that.

"I don't mean to sound preachy, but if everything else fails, something has got to get better at some point and that's what we've all got to hope for," she said.

Fiona had permission from the council to install the crochet artwork, which had links to the Art for You Friendship Festival that has sadly been cancelled for the last two years.

There are also plans to decorate the other side of the bridge, so residents will have to watch this space…

In the meantime, Fiona wants the message of hope to spread as far and wide as possible and is encouraging people around the country to create their own.