A CHURCH group has spun a charitable yarn from the cotton heart-lands of Lancashire to a Zimbabwean school.

The Cotton to Zimbabwe project was thought up by volunteers from Colne’s Christ Church in Keighley Road.

The group was inspired by curate Mecusi Sibanda, who hails from the African country and spent three years working at churches in Colne and surrounding villages.

He told them of the extreme lack of resources at St James School, in his home-land, and how cotton yarn and other fabrics would be used to improve their lives.

Church warden, Pat Watson, said the resulting appeal led to a real community effort in Colne.

She said: “Mecusi told us what a difference have cotton yarn would make as the people over there have the technology but not the raw materials.

“The group, led by Carolyn Halstead, held various events at the church, including a table-top sale and the Brownies and Rainbows also did some fundraising.

“We bought a quantity of cotton and were also helped by Empress Mills in Colne who donated a large amount of fabric and Bell Woven who helped us with packaging and shipping for the parcels.

"I suppose this kind of donation also connects us to the industrial past around here, when there were hundreds of cotton mills in the towns and villages.”

The group hopes that the scheme will also forge links between Christ Church Primary school in Colne and St James in Zimbabwe.