Over 3,000 sewing bees have rallied together to coordinate support, and supply NHS approved scrubs for Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire NHS frontline staff.
The local army of tailors, seamstresses and crafters have joined forces to supply hospitals with scrubs that they are so desperately looking for. The coronavirus epidemic has meant that protective equipment has become crucial for stopping infections spreading when doctors, or nurses return home after a shift. Without scrubs being available, the risk is much higher to themselves and anyone they come into contact with.
Scott Souster, Director of Woburn tailors, Souster & Hicks set out to raise £1,000 for the approved fabric needed to make NHS approved scrubs. Within a matter of days, the funds raised were over £10,000.
Scott commented: “Our business is currently closed, so we started to brainstorm ways we could do something beneficial with our skillset and time. I came across the community Facebook page ‘Sewing for the NHS – Bedfordshire, Bucks & Milton Keynes’ and got into contact with Gemma Little, one of the admins and creators of the page. The money we have raised is going towards NHS approved cloth, and as it stands, we will be able to supply 750 scrubs to our national heroes.
“We are truly grateful for the opportunity to put our skills into use and support all of those healthcare workers that are working tirelessly to keep us all safe”.
Gemma Little, owner of The Little Sewing Studio in Ampthill commented: “The NHS staff are running out of scrubs. They can use many sets a day when treating patients and the demand has now outgrown their own supply. The staff that are saving us should not be having to buy their own protective scrubs, so we decided to rally up the sewing troops and show them we are 100% behind them and will protect them in any capacity we can.
“Lots of the Facebook group members have already bought fabric out of their own back pocket, in order for requests to be met, but they won’t be able to meet the demand all by themselves. So, this is why we have set up a Crowd Funder to raise money locally to continue to fund the fabrics, threads and supplies needed to kit out these incredibly brave people”.
Due to all this incredible work going on behind the scenes by local people, the scrubs are getting to the frontline quicker, whether that’s hospitals, hospices, GP practices or morgues.
