Mary Liondi-Barlow started donating knitted items in 2017. Now, she coordinates dozens of volunteers providing hundreds of toys, blankets, and beanies to anyone who needs them. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
In 2017, Mary Liondi-Barlow began making beanies for her family when a friend mentioned that Canberra Hospital was looking for some woollen donations.
From beanies, she expanded into crocheted blankets, then toys.
Eight years later, and Mary has created a sprawling network of volunteers around Canberra who crochet, knit, and sew toys for Canberra Hospital, the ACT Ambulance Service, Walk-in Centres, and more.
Mary said she was surprised by how popular her first donations were.
“They make it more human, they give connection to the nurses, the doctors, the social workers. Anybody walking by could see some nice coloured quilts. They just absolutely loved them.”
Initially operating out of her house, Mary recruited some friends. Then, in 2020, she registered Good Omen Goodeze Inc. as a charity.
While the group still makes blankets, their biggest product at the moment is toys. But these aren’t just for children.
“We connected with the patient transport units … they were setting up a dementia transport unit,” she said.
“We started providing sensory items. Initially, it was a sensory mask, a sleeve that allows you to put your hands in, containing small items that you can fidget with and squeeze. When you get anxious, a lot of us like to fiddle.”
It might seem like an unorthodox strategy, but according to the people on the ground, they are surprisingly effective.
“While trying to reassure our patient as we moved out to the Ambulance, I was still aware that they were still emotionally overwhelmed.” Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service’s Paul Hughes said.
“The situation was transformed when I gave the patient a knitted doll with a red dress. The patient burst into tears of joy.”
Today, the group provides toys, blankets and clothes to three hospitals, the Ambulance Service, and Walk-in Centres across the city.
Mary personally conducts safety checks to ensure that there are no choking hazards or quality problems that might impact individuals who rely on them.
She now spends much of her time organising her dozens of volunteers; every step from making the toys to seeing them in use is essential.
“Play is so important for adults as well as children. And as we get older, we forget that, we forget how important it is to be creative,” Mary said.
Over the years, Mary has managed to rope in friends, family, and dozens of people from every walk of life into volunteering. They’ve even got a woman who learned to knit despite being blind.
Volunteer Heather Phillips, who joined the group two years ago, said that as soon as she met Mary, she was intrigued by the group.
“My friend Sue and I were at the mall one day, and we just saw Mary. She had a setup, and we just went over and got involved that way.
“At the moment, I’m doing rabbits and mice and just little hand toys that they can hold and just fiddle with. I do a lot of variety. I get bored and I change.
“It keeps me out of mischief and fills in my day.”
Heather Phillips was the first volunteer to hand-sew all of her toys. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
Another volunteer, Cynthia Casburn, often helps out as one of the group’s recruiters; when she’s out, she’s made herself a special knitting travel bag so she can stand and knit while talking to potential volunteers.
Cynthia said they’re not a hard group to sell to people.
“Not only are we helping people, but it has this really good sense of community. And everyone here is so, so welcoming,”
For Cynthia, it’s a rewarding experience; currently, she’s working on toys in Indigenous colour schemes.
“We had a couple of ladies come in and have a chat with us about how using the colours, the Indigenous colours [red, yellow and black], may make a difference to their people,” she said.
“I’ve had feedback through Mary and through the Walk-in Centres, which is where these mostly would go, saying, you know, one little girl picked this up and and how it impacted her and made her feel much better, so you get a sense of helping people.”
Cynthia Casburn is one of the group’s best recruiters. She praised Mary’s tireless efforts in organising the group. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
For all the volunteers, there’s a passion for their work, and a strong sense of community prevails in their meetups, with snacks passed around with the wool.
The group has grown since its inception, when it was just Mary delivering donations from the boot of her car.
Now they meet at community centres around Canberra multiple times a week, donate to a dozen groups, and have won awards, though after all the changes, Mary still sometimes delivers the toys out of her boot.
Good Omen Goodeze meets three times per week to knit toys for anyone who needs them. They are currently looking for donations of yarn. More information on volunteering or donating can be found at Good Omen Goodeze.
