Frimley Village escaped Cyclone Gabrielle, other than a bit of rain and a power cut, but after seeing the damage the cyclone had caused in wider Hawke’s Bay, Lyn Sturm knew she had to do something.

Together, Sturm and four other women living in the village sewed, embroidered, knitted and stuffed more than 180 hand-made soft toys for Cyclone Gabrielle victims for the Year 5, 6 and 7 students at Wairoa Primary School, along with the kindergarten students also based at the school.

The five Frimley Village residents now make up a group Sturm is calling Grannies Circle.

Sturm explained her retirement village suffered no damage during the cyclone, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the thousands of people that have lost so much, including those cut off in Wairoa.

 “I have been thinking about the five, six and seven-year-olds who are the ones who will have to live with the cyclone and its impacts the longest,” Sturm said.

Lyn Sturm adds the last of the hand-made soft toys to the pile ready to go to school kids in Wairoa. Photo / Warren Buckland

The Grannies Circle ringleader was also concerned about how the cyclone has disrupted the first few years of some of the children’s schooling, and said the first years of school are some of the most important years, and it can be really hard to catch up.

Other than raising money to buy toys, the group decided making soft toys would be something that will mean a lot to the kids because they were made with love.

“Hopefully, it might just trigger something, and it will be a special toy they can take with them anywhere,” she said.

Once the group started they couldn’t stop. One thing led to another, and hand-made cats, unicorns, dogs, dragons and more kept piling up.

Lorraine Helson, a member of the newly formed Grannies Circle, explained making the toys was a great way for them to do something after the cyclone.

“We couldn’t do anything physical, but we could use our hands and create some that gave the kids something to hold on to when they are stressed or worried,” Helson said.

The Grannies Circle have made well over the 150 toys Sturm had originally promised to the Wairoa school, and now with 180-plus soft animals, the only problem was getting them to Wairoa.

They had a tight deadline to get them to the school, as Wairoa School principal Richard Lambert said it would be perfect timing if the soft toys could be given out as the kids started Term 2, as it will be a new term and a new beginning.

Luckily, Lambert is spending the weekend before Anzac Day in Taupō, where Sturm will drive to hand the soft toys off to him to deliver to his young students.

The Grannies Circle is excited for the kids to get the creations they worked so hard on and hopes to see some photos of them receiving the 180-plus stuffed toys.