BABY kangaroos left homeless by Australia's devastating bushfires are being cared for in pouches hand-stitched from old Windermere Lake Cruises uniforms.

Hazel Fitzgibbon used worn-out staff polo shirts from the company's Boatman's Cafe at Bowness Bay to sew the joey pouches.

Her creations have been sent halfway round the world to New South Wales and Queensland, where they will be worn by each orphaned baby kangaroo's carer, to mimic their marsupial mother's pouch.

Windermere Lake Cruises' HR assistant Janet Johnson - a former kangaroo-keeper at the South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness - came up with the idea. She said generous businesses had offered to send completed pouches, and individuals had even taken pouches in their suitcases on personal journeys to Australia - efforts described as "logistic miracles".

"These pouches will be worn by each joey’s carer so they can be carried around in a method which simulates how they would be cared for by their biological mother, with their surrogate providing both comfort and food," said Janet.

"Hazel was delighted with our offer to provide our old uniforms, which were delivered to her by volunteers from Bowness."

Old, worn-out staff uniforms are kept by the tourist attraction for recycling, with staff encouraged to share ideas for how they could be re-used and avoid being sent to landfill.

“Hazel has also been making dog beds for rescue kennels," said Janet. "Our contribution may only be a small drop in a very big ocean, but if one baby kangaroo, wallaby or displaced dog feels the benefits of our old uniforms, the whole team will feel very humbled to have been able help in some way.”