FOURTEEN lucky children claimed a prize as a local fairy house trail featuring hand-knitted items came to an end recently.

Over-60s group Grey Matters - Active Ageing organised the week-long event which saw 20 individually crafted fairy scenes hidden in Helensburgh shop windows.

Local youngsters were tasked with finding each creation and reporting their results by Sunday, July 4, with prizes donated by Grey Matters members, the town’s Morrisons store and The Toy Shop on West Clyde Street.

The fun event was supported by Helensburgh Winter Festival, Helensburgh Loves Local and 23 local businesses, while the fairy houses were created by Grey Matters members during lockdown.

One of the knitters, Linda O’Connor, said: “Making the fairy houses was such fun, it gave me a lot of pleasure and kept me busy and my mind occupied.

“To see the pleasure it gave the children was an extra reward.”

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Alison Gildea, manager of Grey Matters Active Ageing, said: “I just loved seeing the children’s faces when they came to hand in their entries.

“Our members are so creative and it’s lovely to see these talents being shared with the community.

“Our sincere thanks to all the local businesses for looking after the fairies and to Val at The Toy Shop and Alison at Morrisons for donating prizes.”

Angela, whose little one Lily (pictured) took part and won a prize, said: “The squeals of excitement when we found another fairy house have given us something to look forward to all week.

“We were lucky enough to meet one of the amazing knitters on our hunt - thank you Grey Matters for bridging the generations.”

Alison Sturgeon, community champion for Morrisons Helensburgh, added: “We were delighted to be asked to take part in this wonderful fairy trail. It’s a lovely idea and being newcomers to the town, it was an honour to be asked.

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“Grey Matters Active Ageing have been great friends to us, since before we even opened. Their talented members have been knitting brooches for us to sell at every fund-raising campaign we have had, and they also created our store mascot. 

“These hand knitted fairy houses are just one of many examples of their artistic talents and we can’t wait to see what they make next.

“We were thrilled to present a hamper to some of their winners, a brother and sister team called Isla and Tom.

“We very much look forward to working with Grey Matters - Active Ageing closely in the future.”