Raynaud's is a very common circulatory condition that affects over 10 million people in the UK, with 9 out of 10 sufferers being female. With exposure to the cold or even a slight change in temperature, the fingers and/or toes can change colour due to the restriction of blood flow. For some people, it is no more than a nuisance and can be very mild but it can also be much more severe, interfering with one’s daily life. Kate was vaguely familiar with the word but didn’t really know about the condition when she started making our Turtle Doves fingerless gloves in 2009. However, it wasn’t long before the condition became quite familiar. Early on in Turtle Doves’ existence, it became clear that our fingerless gloves and wrist warmers were proving a real benefit to Raynaud’s sufferers and one customer, in particular, insisted that we contact the Raynaud’s & Scleroderma Association to let them know.

Please visit a free care and support website www.sruk.co.uk with advice, a forum, hints & tips pages, and lots more. If you know anyone who this condition affects please do let them know about this website, it’s full of useful information and could be a real help to them!

As we mentioned above we have lots of customers who feel that our cashmere fingerless gloves have helped them to cope better with Raynaud’s, here are three testimonials:

“I have suffered from Raynaud’s for a number of years and despite wearing layers of clothing, hats, scarves and gloves, always succumbed to what my children called ‘ghost fingers’ as soon as the weather turned colder. Circulation problems apparently run in my family and we just assumed you had to ‘put up’ with a bit of discomfort and pain in winter. I first heard about Turtle Doves through a local networking group and started to hear really positive things about their signature ‘turtle dove’ gloves, as an ideal solution for both homeworkers and people who were always out and about. I took advantage of Kate’s lovely offer to recycle one of my Grandad’s old cashmere cardigans and received my first pair of ‘turtle doves’ – they were not only incredibly comfortable to wear but so versatile that I could keep them on all day, whether I was typing or driving or even attending business meetings. I went on to purchase a couple more pairs and have worn them during this long winter period and to my astonishment I have had no circulation problems in any of my fingers. This was a really unexpected, but lovely surprise! I made sure that everyone in my family received their own pair of Turtle Doves in their Christmas stockings”. K. Heald. Shropshire

"I saw your link on a Facebook feed and recommended to a friend that they take a look at your sales video! She suffers terribly with arthritis and her hands were almost always cold! Having tried several different types of gloves in the past, fingerless, neoprene and others, she decided to give turtle doves a try! Working in a supermarket and invariably in and out of the chilled departments, her hands would feel ice cold! Since wearing the beautifully fine and soft knitted cashmere, I have been amazed at the difference in the warmth of her hands! She kept pulling the gloves back to let me feel how warm her hands were! So a group of friends decided, for her birthday to buy her a second pair as a spare while the first were being washed! She is thrilled!

I believe it is a combination of things that has made the difference between these and other gloves she has tried! Firstly the extended length which takes the gloves well up the forearm, keeping the wrists warm, secondly, the fineness and softness of the knit with no clumpy thickness between the fingers, making them very comfortable to wear, and thirdly, they are easy to pull off the hands and out of the way whilst leaving the wrists covered for when you need to wash your hands or just expose your hands for any other purpose! I will have no hesitation in recommending turtle doves to anyone who suffers with cold hands! Thank you for making my friends’ life at work a little more tolerable!" S. Pinkard

"Hi to you all, I gave them to my 89 year old Mum who has suffered from cold hands forever, She told me the first day she wore them she was able to fall asleep in the armchair in the afternoon as she felt warm and cosy. So thank you all so very much, very quick delivery, can’t fault your service." Maria

If you would like to browse our range of cashmere fingerless gloves click here.