A group of elderly people in Hammersmith have been raising money for their housing association by knitting pom pom hats.

The Notting Hill Housing’s extra care residents from Elmgrove House, Bute Gardens, have spent much of 2015 creating multi-coloured pom poms with activities officer Chloe Burrow.

They can now be purchased from online ethical retailer ethicalcollection.com , which was set up by Notting Hill Housing volunteer Giovanna Eastwood.

Extra care residents are older residents who live semi-independently. Money raised from sales will go towards the association’s Hardship Funds, which helps residents with things like replacing broken fridges, putting food on the table and starter packs when moving from a hostel to a new home.

Speaking about how the project came about, Ms Burrows said: “Our residents at Elmgrove have been making pom poms with me all year, so when I met Giovanna we started talking about ways to make them into a product to benefit the Hardship Fund.”

It is hoped that the collective will be expanded to include all Notting Hill Housing residents in the new year.