THE owner of a new fabric crafts shop in Malmesbury is encouraging people to Make May Purple by creating squares for a quilt she hopes to raffle to raise money for the Stroke Association.

Helen Chapman, who opened the Fabric Shack on Park Road in mid-April, is beginning to sew the 12 inch quilted squares created by more 20 contributors for her king-size quilt which she intends to raffle off for the charity's Make May Purple campaign at the end of the month.

"We are constructing a quilt for the Stroke Association's Make May Purple campaign to help raise awareness of strokes and the charity itself," the 44-year-old, who fell in love with crafts as a child, said. "My willing volunteers are coming down and making bits for the quilt which I will then sew together and raffle off hopefully at the end of May.

"Stroke Association are not a charity that gets a lot of publicity and it seemed to fit in with what we are doing here and I know so many people and families have been affected by strokes so I want to make this as big as we can.

"Currently we have about 20 contributors and we are nearly there but I could do with a couple more purple cotton squares, which are 12 inches, if anyone wants to help."

For more information about the quilt or how to contribute visit www.fabricshack.co.uk.