Grandmother, 91, uses 34 balls of wool to recreate medical scenes for NHS fundraiser 

A great-great-grandmother used 34 balls of wool to knit a model hospital called Knittingale to raise funds for the NHS

Margaret Seaman, 91, spent three months making the masterpiece at the bungalow she shares with her 72-year-old daughter Tricia Wilson in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. 

She knitted 59 figures to go inside the hospital, including doctors, nurses and patients, and they took her two hours each to craft.

Margaret Seaman, 91, from Norfolk, spent three months and used 34 balls of wool to create the ‘Knittingale Hospital’ to raise funds for the NHS

Mrs Seaman stands behind her masterpiece which is complete with a rainbow, a symbol during the pandemic which people put in their windows to show thanks for the NHS

Mrs Seaman stands behind her masterpiece which is complete with a rainbow, a symbol during the pandemic which people put in their windows to show thanks for the NHS

The model features four wards and Mrs Seaman also created 59 figures for the hospital, including doctors, nurses and patients, which took around two hours each to make

The model features four wards and Mrs Seaman also created 59 figures for the hospital, including doctors, nurses and patients, which took around two hours each to make 

The model also comes complete with a helicopter landing pad. Two figures here can be seen carrying a stretcher

The model also comes complete with a helicopter landing pad. Two figures here can be seen carrying a stretcher

Mrs Seaman said that she doesn't plan anything. She said: 'I do it as I go along and it comes into my head. It's nice to see it set up properly'

Mrs Seaman said that she doesn’t plan anything. She said: ‘I do it as I go along and it comes into my head. It’s nice to see it set up properly’

The model also features four wards, an A&E department, X-ray unit, fracture clinic, a cafe, a helicopter landing pad, car park and flower beds. 

She set out the completed model at a venue in Norwich on Wednesday to see how it looks before it goes on display at a crafts festival next year. 

Mrs Seaman has previously made models of the Queen’s Sandringham House and Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile in its heyday. 

She said: ‘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 set out the completed model at a venue in Norwich on Wednesday to see how it looks before it goes on display at a crafts festival next year

She set out the completed model at a venue in Norwich on Wednesday to see how it looks before it goes on display at a crafts festival next year

Each of the model's four wards has differently coloured knitted bedding and all are labelled on the outside with a number

Each of the model’s four wards has differently coloured knitted bedding and all are labelled on the outside with a number

Two knitted nurse figures, one wearing navy and one wearing burgundy, make up a blue bed in one of the wards

Two knitted nurse figures, one wearing navy and one wearing burgundy, make up a blue bed in one of the wards

Inside the model, there are four wards complete with beds and figures as well as smaller buildings for services such as physiotherapy

Inside the model, there are four wards complete with beds and figures as well as smaller buildings for services such as physiotherapy

At the entrance to the model hospital, one knitted patient stands with an IV drip. Mrs Seaman said the bigger buildings are easier to do than the small figures

At the entrance to the model hospital, one knitted patient stands with an IV drip. Mrs Seaman said the bigger buildings are easier to do than the small figures 

One knitted patient in one of the wards receives two visitors as he sits up in bed. Mrs Seaman has previously made models of the Queen's Sandringham House and Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile in its heyday

One knitted patient in one of the wards receives two visitors as he sits up in bed. Mrs Seaman has previously made models of the Queen’s Sandringham House and Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile in its heyday

‘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.

‘I don’t plan anything. I do it as I go along and it comes into my head. It’s nice to see it set up properly.’ 

She said she wanted to raise money for the NHS to ‘say thank you for everyone’. 

Mrs Seaman added: ‘I’ve always knitted a certain amount but I went years without when I had the children younger, but I started again after I lost my husband.

One of the wards has small rabbits on the walls, while Mrs Seaman also included two wheelchairs and an eye clinic in her model

One of the wards has small rabbits on the walls, while Mrs Seaman also included two wheelchairs and an eye clinic in her model

In another of the wards, one knitted patient sits up in bed while another appears to have climbed out

In another of the wards, one knitted patient sits up in bed while another appears to have climbed out

The wards appear quite busy as Mrs Seaman has filled it with small, knitted figures of doctors, nurses and patients

The wards appear quite busy as Mrs Seaman has filled it with small, knitted figures of doctors, nurses and patients 

Mrs Seaman said she created the model hospital because she wanted to raise money for the NHS to 'say thank you for everyone'

Mrs Seaman said she created the model hospital because she wanted to raise money for the NHS to ‘say thank you for everyone’

Mrs Seaman reaches her hand into the model hospital and holds up one of the knitted figures in the scene

Mrs Seaman reaches her hand into the model hospital and holds up one of the knitted figures in the scene 

One of the knitted patients reads her book in her bed while a nurse wearing a navy uniform patrols the ward

One of the knitted patients reads her book in her bed while a nurse wearing a navy uniform patrols the ward

‘I joined a knitting group and started again and it went from there.’ 

Mrs Seaman has raised more than £3,600 to be shared between three hospitals in Norfolk.  

The model will be displayed at the Norfolk Makers Festival at The Forum in Norwich in February 2021, with a new JustGiving page to be set up to raise further funds for the NHS. 

To donate, visit Mrs Seaman’s JustGiving page.  

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