Great-great-grandmother spends lockdown knitting model of Nightingale Hospital to raise funds for NHS

Set includes 58 tiny woollen figures of doctors, nurses and patients

A great-great-grandmother has spent lockdown knitting a model of Nightingale hospital to raise funds for the NHS.

Margaret Seaman, 91, used 34 balls of wool to make the masterpiece at the bungalow she shares with her 72-year-old daughter Tricia Wilson in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

The model has been dubbed “Knittingale Hospital” after the temporary hospitals which were established as part of the response to the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year.

Seaman said she crafted the building as a personal tribute to the local NHS teams who worked during the  pandemic.

The three-metre-square creation features four wards, including an A&E department and separate areas for men, women and children, complete with miniature beds, blankets, chairs and cupboards, all of which are knitted.

Seaman also knitted an X-ray unit, fracture clinic, cafe, helicopter landing pad, car park and flower beds.

The set is finished with 58 tiny woollen figures, including doctors, nurses and patients, which were created by Seaman’s friend, Jan.

The great-great-grandmother showcased the completed model at a venue in Norwich on Thursday before it goes on display at the Norfolk Makers Festival in February 2021.

Margaret Seaman, 91, with her creation The 'Knittingale' a model hospital (PA)

During the summer, Seaman’s knitted model raised a total of £3500 for Norfolk's hospitals.

All funds raised by the “Knittingale” will be divided between the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, in Norwich, the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Kings Lynn.

She has now also launched a new JustGiving page to help raise further funds for the NHS.

The three-metre-square creation features four wards (PA)

While this is not the first large-scale creation Seaman has crafted, she said it was “much harder” than any she has attempted before.

The pensioner has previously knitted replicas of the Queen's Sandringham House and Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile.

“I wondered what we could do to help when we went into lockdown and I thought why not knit a hospital that will raise money for three of our local hospitals, one at King's Lynn, one at Norwich, one at Great Yarmouth,” she said.

The set is finished with 58 tiny woollen figures, including doctors, nurses and patients (PA)

“It was much harder than the bigger things that I've done like Sandringham. The bigger buildings are easier to do than the small things like beds and little tiny people.”

She added that she wanted to raise money for the NHS to “say thank you for everyone”.