A WOODLEY woman is running a campaign to provide vital PPE to frontline NHS staff across Berkshire and South Oxfordshire.
Tina Hancock, who works for a local authority, set up Scrub Hub South Oxon and Berks to support health care professionals in need of scrubs during the current crisis.
In only two weeks since its conception, the hub has received over £5,000 in donations that go towards making PPE.
Ms Hancock was prompted to create the hub when she learnt about the original Scrub Hub UK and saw their request on Facebook for more seamstresses.
Together with friend Madeleine Steele, a talented seamstress and her husband Duncan Steele, she began seeking volunteers on Facebook, to help produce and deliver the protective clothing to NHS staff, carers and key workers.
The three friends have been working together to coordinate the Scrub Hub South Oxon and Berks network as it progresses.
Ms Hancock said: “We’ve had a lot of support and we’ve really grown incredibly quickly, through Facebook and speaking to friends of friends, it’s snowballed. By the end of the week we were delivering our first scrubs!
“We follow strict guidelines in terms of how the scrubs are made, we have some very proficient sewers.
“It’s brilliant to see how many people want to get involved, the community spirit has been amazing. Even on Facebook people are organizing themselves really well, they’re taking on responsibilities. We’ve been overwhelmed with people’s willingness to help.”
A total of 90 sets of scrubs have been distributed or are in production and demand is high for bags and masks too.
Ms Hancock said: “I’ve just spoken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital today and they want 40 scrub bags from us. That’s two per person so 20 people we’re supplying for.
“On the mask front, we set up ‘The Big Mask Task’, we challenged people to make ten masks each a week, a lot of them have made 20.”
The original Scrub Hub UK was founded in Hackney Wick, when doctor Katie Ward shared with her local community group that she urgently needed protective clothing.
Neighbours rallied round and began sewing scrubs for NHS staff. A Scrub Hub network formed and people were invited to create their own local hubs. Since then, many more Scrub Hub networks have been set up across the U.K.
Ms Hancock explained how the volunteers are being organised in her local hub.
“We have 148 volunteers, out of those, 46 are making scrubs,” she said. “We’ve divided them into 20 groups, each group has a coordinator, a group leader, at least one scrub maker and the rest are making masks and bags.
“We’ve got drivers and a logistics coordinator minimising time on the road and we’re implementing social distancing.
“Our orders have come from individuals working in hospitals and care homes including the Royal Berkshire hospital, the John Radcliffe Hospital, Wexham Park hospital
and the Duchess of Kent Hospice.”
The hub is entirely funded by a GoFundMe page, which has a target of £7,500:
“We’ve raised over £5000 from individual donations, we’d like to get companies involved,” she added. “It costs us £20 to make a set of scrubs, £20 saves a life.”
And the emergency help has been well received by key workers.
“We’ve had lots of emails, people saying how fantastic it is and thanking us for our help,” said Ms Hancock.
“We had a doctor who’d gone from a GP practice to working on a Covid-19 ward, he was so grateful to us. People are really appreciative of what we’re doing.”
The campaign has had support from local businesses, with The Blue Moose Graphic Company in Charvil printing 28 scrub patterns and both Woodley’s Thorngate Upholstery and the Berkshire Upholstery Services cutting materials.
To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/scrubhubsouthoxonandberks .
For more information or to volunteer visit: www.facebook.com/groups/1104686136572859/ or search Scrub-Hub South Oxon and Berks on Facebook.
To find out how to set up a Scrub Hub in your local area visit: scrubhub.org.uk/ Follow the campaign’s progress on Instagram www.instagram.com/scrubhubclub/
