Marie's a knitting machine

Marie Smith has just finished washing and counting her latest delivery of baby hats as she sits down with a cup of tea. Just as she is putting her feet up there is a knock on the door and a gentleman is stood on her doorstep holding a bulging carrier bag.

"Here's another 65 for you Marie," he says and she takes the bag, which is packed with the tiny woollen hats, inside and adds it to her vast collection. "I have around 1,000 hats delivered every day," says Marie who lives in Oldbury. "People regularly phone me, asking if I will send the knitting pattern out to them – 500 people in the Black Country are now knitting for me.

"Every week I send thousands of hats off to hospitals all over the country, such as York and Bristol, and I have just received a phone call from Great Ormond Street Hospital asking me to post more out to them.

"If parents lose a child which has been born prematurely they usually a keepsake and so they take the hat away with them – they really cherish it. Some of the ladies that are knitting for me are amazing and they produce hundreds every week. The oldest one who is knitting for me is 94, which is incredible."

Marie, aged 38, who is a mother to Rebecca, aged 17, Katie-Ann 13, Lily Mae,aged four, and Harry Thomas Jon, three, says the children love to help with her charity work.

"Every morning the children are waiting to see what has come in the post and then they help me open all the parcels and count the hats," she says.

"I have always knitted but I prefer to work on little things because I can get bored easily.

"We are sending hats out to 50 hospitals and that includes all the local ones.

"This is an ongoing thing and so I think it won't be long before we get to one million hats.

"We are having a 70s night on Friday and I'm hoping that some of the money we raise will go towards refunding some of our costs.

"My husband, Nigel, is so laid back that he doesn't mind his house being filled with hats. He is very supportive because he knows that it is helping a lot of people."

l To send knitted hats or blankets to Marie call her on 0121 422 3334.