Hertfordshire yarn-bombers set festive fundraising record

Volunteers placed the toppers in places across Hertfordshire including St Albans, Park Street, Harpenden, Wheathampstead and Sandridge

A group of yarn-bombers have thwarted vandals to see their creations set a festive fundraising record.

St Albans Postboxes installed 82 festive postbox toppers across Hertfordshire, but said seven disappeared and went "on adventures".

Jenny Smith, a volunteer creator, said it had been a "tough year" but seeing nearly £30,000 in donations "flooding in" had made it all worthwhile.

The work raised funds for charities Youth Talk and ADD-vance.

Once collected in, all the toppers were washed, cleaned...

... and left to dry

Ms Smith said: "We are completely blown away by the generosity of the people of St Albans.

"It's been a tough year, and we are incredibly grateful to all those who have donated and supported this year's campaign."

A Christmas cake topper that was taken off and thrown on some traffic lights was rescued by a council worker

The group has exceeded its The group had set a fundraising target of £25,000 and said people had until the end of January to contribute.

Last Christmas, it raised £26,000 for St Albans and District Foodbank and Open Door St Albans.

"Whilst this is set to be a record year for funds, sadly it was also a record year for vandalism, with many of the toppers going on unplanned adventures or damaged," Ms Smith added.

"We have proved that the vandals won't win! With the help of the eagle-eyed public, we managed to retrieve most of the toppers, mend them and put them back in place."

The Jammie Dodgers topper on Victoria Street was taken in early December and never found

A postbox featured on top of an actual postbox

A number of the pieces were taken, found, washed and put back and a few had to be repaired, but a Jammie Dodgers topper was taken and never found.

Debbie Woods, chief executive of ADD-Vance, which supports families affected by ADHD, autism and related conditions and the professionals who support them, said: "Huge congratulations to all involved for reaching your target. It's truly amazing. Thank you so much.

"These funds will make such a huge difference to us as a charity."

David Barker, chief executive of Youth Talk, said: "The pandemic has hugely compounded the mental health challenges being faced by growing numbers of young people across the District.

"The St Albans Postboxes team and all their supporters are quite simply helping us to change lives."

About 50 yarn-bombers created 82 toppers, which sat on top of Royal Mail postboxes

Hundreds of hours of work goes into making all the toppers