Magic of Christmas at Standen House and Garden

National Trust spokeswoman Alice Johnson said: “These contemporary art installations have been lovingly created by the Standen lockdown community of crafters, made up of hundreds of volunteers from across the country.

“Uniting in this project throughout lockdown, visitors can admire the result of the crafters’ hard work in the form of the Winter Trees of Hope until Sunday, January 3 2021 from 10am-4pm.

“Each year the Winter Tree at Standen, The National Trust’s Arts and Crafts house and garden in West Sussex, is created by an artist whose work takes inspiration from the Arts & Crafts movement.

“Past Winter Tree designers have included internationally acclaimed artists from Zandra Rhodes to Kaffe Fassett. However, with 2020 being a year like no other, the art installations this festive season have been made by a community of crafting volunteers, with the activity of creating a hand-made decoration for the tree a positive, joyful project to focus on during the unknown of this year’s lockdowns.

“With a variety of patterns available for all skill sets, anyone could take part in the project, and in total over 1,500 hand-made decorations of joy make up the installation. These include crochet granny squares to hand-stitched hearts and baubles, and each decoration harbours a personal message of hope for the future thoughtfully written by crafters young and old.”

Visitor experience officer Kim Jones said: “For me, it felt important that we had something to look forward to, a focus to keep us all going during those quite scary and isolating lockdown days. What better way than to get crafting, which is not only productive but so good for our wellbeing. These trees are the epitome of what a wonderful community spirit can achieve, bringing people together even when we were so far apart. We all need bright colours, joy and above all hope this year. We all need the Winter Trees of Hope.

“The Winter Tree art installation this year comprises three hand-built trees, made by Standen volunteers from reclaimed timber, which are wrapped in a colourful crochet square blanket, and then adorned with personal hand-made decorations. The centre tree has been formed in a rainbow pattern to acknowledge and thank key workers for their heroic work throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The crafty decorations themselves were created with the theme of nature and people in mind.”