A WOMAN from Launceston is giving something back to the community through her creation of handmade clothes for premature babies.

Twenty-seven-year-old Charlie Hockaday Williams, from Launceston, has, for the last ten years, been experiencing problems with her health. Having wanted to be a paramedic and always doing things to help people, Charlie was devastated when her poor health meant she was unable to do her dream job, and had to use a wheelchair. As well as brittle asthma, Charlie lives with hypogammaglobuline mia, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and a type of muscular dystrophy.

Charlie became severely depressed and suicidal a few years ago, having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she was unable to get out and about very often. This would become a huge turning point for her. She said: “I just felt I wasn’t doing enough for society, so I started to make hats for premature babies. I set myself a target of doing 4,950 baby hats — 30 hats for every NICU in England. I’m now at 1,400 hats completed.”

Through the power of social media, Charlie found premature babies to make hats for once a month. “I got to the point where I wanted to do more — I still felt like I wasn’t doing enough for society.”

Through speaking to the families of premature babies, she discovered that many — if not all — were unable to find clothes that would fit their children due to their low weight and size.

“Still feeling as though I don’t do enough for society, I figured I’d get a grant for my mental health, so with me getting the yarn for the hats through donations, I figured I could use the grant to buy fabric to make these little outfits. I had never sewn anything before, so this was the first time. I was rather shocked because they turned out pretty good!”

Charlie makes the outfits herself, and doesn’t charge the families a penny.

“With everything the parents go through with having a premature baby and the cost of petrol, bus fares and everything else, I felt as though I couldn’t charge the families for these outfits. Instead of putting them up on my Etsy page, I decided I would use social media to its advantage and find premature babies via this route, and offer the parents a choice of different fabrics so that I could make a couple of different sizes for their babies.”

The outfits are made from fabric that can be put onto boiled washes, with only six poppers that hold the back and front together so that the baby can be accessed within seconds if necessary. With the few poppers, the outfits have gaps where wires and tubes can be fed through to reach the baby.

Charlie said: “The simple task of being able to dress your baby can mean so much to so many parents, as all you want to do is care for your child, but when they are in the NICU, most days there is very little that you, as a parent, can do. Having clothes available gives parents an opportunity they might not have been able to experience at that time in their child’s life.”

Charlie can be contacted her through Facebook page.