A GROUP of volunteer knitters is making ‘worry monsters’ to help children overcome stress and anxiety.

Headington resident Shirley Nelder and her army of knitters have been creating the cuddly characters, which are being used by therapists and social workers to help children who have experienced abuse, neglect, bereavement or trauma.

Oxfordshire County Council and the Oxfordshire Virtual School, which acts on behalf of children in care, have teamed up with the knitters to support as many children as possible.

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Ms Nelder said: “I was talking to a friend about charitable causes, and she mentioned the worry monsters.

“After showing pictures of them to my daughter, who works with children, we came up with the idea of creating a crowd of ‘cuddlees’, which we’d donate to Oxfordshire County Council’s social care team.

“I can’t thank enough the dedicated volunteers who, in their own time, have created these wonderful characters, each one so different and individual.”

Liz Brighouse, deputy leader of the county council, added: “These handmade monsters will be used by our social care team when working with children in care and young people to help resolve any worries they have.

“The monsters aren’t really scary. They’re designed to be fun and encourage interaction.

“Sometimes writing down a worry can be helpful in itself. So, when a worrying or troubling thought comes into a child’s mind, they can scribble down their thoughts, or draw a picture and feed it to their worry monster.

“That’s fun and will hopefully help them understand and overcome their anxiety with support from the social worker.”

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