Crafts enthusiasts in stitch-up against world hunger

Craft fans around the UK are invited to take part in a campaign that aims to help end world hunger for good

Organised by the Craftivist Collective, the Jigsaw Project aims to get stitchers across the country embroidering puzzle pieces with provocative messages in support of Race Against Hunger, a campaign run by the charity Save the Children.

The creations will be collected and displayed as part of a giant art installation in London next spring, which will raise awareness of the campaign and run alongside a petition to the government to prioritise world hunger at the 2013 G8 summit, which will be held in the UK.

The campaign asks that people make a jigsaw piece for the artwork, a piece for themselves to keep as a reminder to be part of the solution, and to give a piece stitched with the words “I’m a piece” to their MP, to ask them to do their bit in the fight against world hunger.

Sarah Corbett, founder of the Craftivist Collective, said: “Life is like a puzzle; it all seems a mess, but when it gets finished it looks brilliant. This project aims to show that we are all connected and our actions make a difference. There is no one solution to the problem of injustice, but we can all play a part in a movement for change.”

The project was launched at Mary Portas’ Living and Giving shop in Primrose Hill, London, on World Hunger Day, 16 October 2012. Crafty activists are being asked to join the project on their own, with friends, or by setting up their own sewing event, as well as spreading messages and images about the initiative through social media using the hashtag #imapiece.

The number of hungry children in the world has risen for the first time this decade, according to Save the Children. Malnutrition means children achieve less at school and their productivity and health in adult life is affected, resulting in dire financial costs for entire countries. Climate change, volatile food prices, economic uncertainty and demographic shifts are putting future progress on tackling malnutrition at risk.

The Craftivist Collective believes hunger and malnutrition are political problems, which need political solutions, and that the craft community can play a part.