One woman who warmed the world

Sonia Gidley-King was a regular at public meetings in Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo, where she lived. She would usually sit in the front row and always had something to say, at length, about issues such as the route of the 311 bus.

But she had far greater success as founder of the Wrap with Love project, which by last year had warmed cold humanity by sending over 220,000 hand-knitted wraps to bona fide agencies in more than 75 countries including Australia.

The idea came to Sonia in 1992. Then aged 64, she was watching a TV news report about the civil war in Mozambique which showed malnourished people dealing with zero temperatures, and she wondered what she might do to help.

The Wrap with Love idea came to her in a flash. She had some spare wool in the cupboard and used it to knit a 10-inch square, the first of several which would be sewn together to make a warm, colourful wrap.

Sonia realised that many people would have spare wool and set about enlisting help through her personal network of friends and alumni from Kincoppal School. Soon she had gathered a small group and within a month, the first 38 wraps of 28 squares each were on their way to Mozambique.

From that small beginning the idea spread, inspiring the popular annual Knit-In for ABC radio 702 listeners, held at the ABC studios in Ultimo . Many Wrap with Love knitting groups have sprung up and a committee of volunteers works year-round to co-ordinate gathering and distribution from a warehouse in Alexandria.

Sonia was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997. Her slogan was “Cold humanity is our concern”, a motto that continues on the Wrap with Love letterhead.

From her hospital bed shortly before her passing, Sonia told some Wrap volunteers: “Wrap with Love has brought me so many fulfilments. I get to work and speak with wonderful people every day and have lots of laughs.”

Sonia died on 17 July 2010 after a long illness.

To get involved in Wrap with Love, phone 8399 3000 or Google ‘Wrap with Love donations’.

by Michael Gormly