When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie turns two on 8 May, he will gift 200 woolen hats to kids in need in New Zealand.

The hats have been made by members of NZ knitwear social enterprise Make Give Live and will be distributed through I Got Your Back Pack, a charity providing emergency care packs filled with practical and essential items to women and children in refuges throughout New Zealand.

Make Give Live founder Claire Conza says the hats are made from a beautiful merino yarn spun in New Zealand. “We chose a simple beanie design in baby, toddler and child sizes and gave our maker community creative freedom with the colour schemes they selected.”

The gift was made possible after Meghan and Harry reached out to Make Give Live a few days before Christmas, requesting to buy 100 hats for Kiwi children in need on Archie’s behalf. As Make Give Live operates on a buy one, give one model, this allowed the group to make 200 hats to be given away in the famous toddler’s name.

“We have been supporting I Got Your Back Pack for the past four years and decided they were the perfect organisation to distribute these beanies throughout the country,” says Conza.

“I Got Your Back Pack founder Anita Hinton has given us feedback about how wonderful it is to include our hats in the packs – not only do they warm the heads of the recipients, it’s also heartwarming for them to know that someone cared enough to hand make them something with love.”

Archie’s birthday was chosen as the ideal day to handover the hats, allowing them to be distributed just in time for the cooler winter months.

It’s not the first time that the royal couple have supported Make Give Live – in January 2020 they shared a photo of baby Archie wearing a Make Give Live Cocobear hat with their 10 million followers. The cute shot of Archie rugged up against the cold and being held by his father during a trip to Canada inspired hundreds of orders for the hat from around the world.

“We are very grateful to Harry and Meghan for shining a light on the work we do. The publicity has enabled us to grow our impact massively and our message has reached all corners of the globe,” Conza says.

Make Give Live is a community-based enterprise with a purpose of easing isolation and improving mental heath and wellbeing by bringing people together to knit and crochet hats, with one donated to charity for every one sold. Find out more about Make Give Live and check out the product range at www.makegivelive.com

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