14 Apr 2022 Community

Mirfield’s Jigsaw Swappers help to Support Life

As a popular way to while away the hours, completing jigsaws proved to be a hugely popular pastime for millions of people at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. So much so that new puzzles proved extremely difficult to get your hands on during the first lockdown.  

After completing all the jigsaws in their own collections during the first lockdown, Trisha Mearns and Pat Smith, who have been friends for over five decades and both enjoy jigsaws, came up with the idea of creating a swap shop for people in the Mirfield area who also love solving puzzles. 

What resulted was the creation of Mirfield Jigsaw Group. Run by Trisha and Pat, the ‘group’ has brought a community of enthusiasts together to enjoy a hobby they love, whilst still remaining complete strangers. And they’re all helping The Kirkwood Support Life. 

On the creation of the idea, Trisha explained: "We started the idea during Covid as we both do jigsaws and we found that we had each completed all the ones we had. We put a message on the Mirfield Matters Facebook page seeing if we could have any jigsaws from people that didn't want them anymore. We got a huge response from the post.  

"People gave us their jigsaws and we also had help from the Mirfield Library, who had a big collection.  

"We decided to create a jigsaw swap shop. We took a photo of the 30 to 40 puzzles we had collected and said it was free delivery to those who wanted to complete one. We started with four and five people and from there it just grew.  

"We went out in PPE and gave people a chance to look at what they wanted, and in return they'd donate a jigsaw they had. So in essence our collection kept changing."  

As Trisha and Pat’s jigsaw swap shop continued to grow, people started offering Trisha and Pat petrol money to cover their costs. Although grateful for the kind offers, the friends instead came up with the idea of donating any money to The Kirkwood.  

Trisha said: "People started to offer money for our petrol but we didn't want to take any. We decided if we took any money we would donate it to The Kirkwood. We then got a leaflet printed to give to people and more and more folk joined and left some money in their jigsaw boxes."  

The group has now raised a fantastic £676 for The Kirkwood. Up to 20 people were swapping their jigsaws every week during the various lockdowns, with the puzzles now changing hands once a month. Having built up a regular ‘customer base’, Trisha says they will continue the idea for as long as people want to keep doing it.  

She said: "We love seeing people smile when they get a new jigsaw to complete. Some of our group complete two a week, one person does one every day. A lot of our people can be isolated or elderly. However we are a group and although it's unlikely they will ever meet each other, myself and Pat are proud we created this.  

"Raising funds for The Kirkwood is important. The help and support they provide people all across Kirklees is vital. Without The Kirkwood, hundreds of people wouldn't have anywhere to go when they need help and advice.  

"We will keep running our jigsaw swappers group for as long as people want to keep completing them."  

We’d like to say a huge thank you to Trisha and Pat and all the members of their group for their amazing and ongoing support.