An Easter tradition

Not what you might think. This has no deep religious significance and isn’t even an ancient folk custom. I’m talking about chocolate crème eggs with knitted covers in the shape of chicks.

I kid you not. Someone many years ago came up with the idea of woollen warmers for chocolate eggs and started selling them for BRACE. They don’t actually warm the eggs, which is just as well, but they are a seasonal chick-shaped covering rather like what people used to put on boiled eggs. Volunteers knit the chicks, which are then introduced to the eggs (and no, I don’t know which came first). They are then put on sale at various outlets and – incredibly – we raise as much as £2,000 from them each spring.

There’s a serious point here. A chocolate egg with a bit of knitting sells for a modest price. Each one is the work of a volunteer who gives time to do things on a very small scale. And at the end of it we have a worthwhile sum for research. Lots of individual effort by people who are doing what they enjoy doing and what they can do, resulting in enough income to buy an item of lab equipment or to pay 5-10% of the cost of a pilot project.

The serious point is that no one is too small to make a difference in the long struggle to beat dementia. If you can only give five minutes or £1, your gift will be added to those of thousands of other people and will count.

Of course, if you can give lots of time as a volunteer or write out a big cheque, we’d love to hear from you too!