They have missed seeing their family and friends and that personal connection visits provide.

With this in mind a special project has aimed to put a smile on the faces of residents and their families.

Members of Leeton's St Peter's Anglican Church Mother's Union read about a similar idea happening elsewhere and decided it was time to try it out here.

So, the project was laid out.

Members were to knit hand-crafted love hearts that would fit in the palm of the hand.

Once completed, the idea was to donate these gorgeous creations to aged care homes throughout Leeton.

This week the first batch was handed over the RFBI Leeton Masonic Lodge.

The knitted "hearts of hope" were delivered in packages containing two items.

"The idea is that a resident keeps one and gives the other to a loved one," Mother's Union member Marcia Ashworth explained.

"That can be a family member or a friend.

"Then whenever they are holding it they think of them and the idea is it gives them a bit of comfort during these times when they are separated from each other."

Each package of hearts comes complete with a card that reads "you are in my heart even though we are separated".

MORE NEWS:

Mother's Union members have also been sending these creations to their own friends and family they haven't been able to see during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's a wonderful idea and we hope it brings some comfort and a smile," Father Robert Murphy said.