Meet our Pride of Britain fundraiser finalists 2021 - Margaret Seaman

  • Watch Russell Hookey's report for ITV News Anglia

Norfolk knitting sensation Margaret Seaman, 92, has raised thousands of pounds for the region’s hospitals thanks to her woollen masterpieces.

Margaret picked up her knitting needles after moving in with her daughter in Caister-on-Sea.

Margaret said: "I lost my husband eight years ago and went to live with my daughter.

"She insisted that I didn't stay on my own, so I went to stay with her and she encouraged me to join a knitting group which I did.

"For a year or two I did different projects with them and then I thought I'd like to have a go on my own, so I started on my own and I did Great Yarmouth seafront."

Margaret Seaman works on her latest woollen creation at the home she shares with her daughter in Caister-on-Sea. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Margaret knitted every day for more than a year to complete her replica of Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile during its 1970s heyday.

The four-metre long crocheted creation included many famous landmarks such as Wellington Pier and the Winter Gardens. It went on display at the Forum in Norwich in 2019 and the reaction was incredible with donations pouring in. 

Margaret hasn’t looked back and her woollen wonders have kept on coming. She created Knittingale Hospital during the lockdown and most recently her knitted Sandringham House has been on display at the Royal Estate. She even met the Queen who was impressed by her work.

Knitted Sandringham alone has now raised an incredible £20,000 for projects at three hospitals including the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn and the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.