Alsager Town Councillor Sue Helliwell set herself a new challenge this week to help NHS Staff!
Staff at UHNM are benefitting from the efforts of kindhearted local seamstresses like Sue, as they work furiously to make hospital scrubs and the bags to store them in. The ‘Scrubs4Stoke’ campaign was founded by former nurse and sewing enthusiast Laura McColll and has seen hundreds of people take up their sewing needles in the fight against Coronavirus.
Sue heard about the campaign and said "Everyone knows I am not very crafty unless it is pom pom making! Well I have really surprised myself by making laundry bags for Scrubs4Stoke!"
The group are working in cooperation with UHNM’s linen services team, headed by Hazel Smith.
Hazel said: “This crisis has taken everyone by surprise and one of the results is a national shortage of scrubs. Our staff are working flat-out to provide care for people and we need to keep them and our patients safe. Scrubs are essential work wear for staff because they contribute to hygiene and safety. We really appreciate the hard work of these talented and generous people, who are pulling together to help us at such a challenging time.”
Scrubs 4Stoke now has more than 300 members on their website – that’s hundreds of pairs of hands working furiously to help keep our amazing NHS staff safe! It really is the Blitz spirit. I’m retired now but I used to work as a Theatres Sister, so I have a good idea of the kinds of pressures NHS staff will be facing. Scrubs4Stoke started out as a Whatsapp group and has grown really quickly. We need hundreds of metres of material and patterns to give to our sewing team, so if anyone feels they can help us by donating material or money, please get in touch!”
If you would like to lend a hand or make a donation, visit the Scrubs4Stoke website: https://www.scrubsforstoke.co.uk/