Conservative Councillors in Croydon have pooled their ward budgets to donate £9,200 to nurses in Croydon.
Many will recall that nurse Dawn Bilbrough in York was brought to tears when she found herself unable to buy food and basic items in her local shop. Cllr. Bains was moved by this and contacted Chief Nurse, Elaine Clancy, of Croydon University Hospital to see how he might make a donation that would directly help nurses in this predicament. Nurse Clancy suggested that funding could be used to provide a kettle/coffee machine and refreshments for each clinical area in order to ensure that nurses can have drinks and snacks on the wards and clinical areas.
Following the initial donation of £4,100 from Cllr. Bains, he decided to coordinate a joint donation from other Conservative Councillors in Croydon. The donation is now being used to:
·Support NHS staff with hot meals and drinks, as well as supermarket essentials – this allows them to provide lunch, dinner, hot drinks and essentials for medical staff to take home at the end of their shifts i.e. pasta, tinned food, fresh fruit and veg, toilet rolls.
·Treat nursing teams to a little luxury to help them relax after a busy shift - including hand creams, spa treatments and toiletry packs for staff staying in accommodation away from home.
·Help to keep medical staff healthy, happy and safe – for example, through counselling drop ins, staff wellbeing and chillout areas.
Nurse Clancy continued: “Thank you again for your incredible donations and supporting nursing colleagues and their own health and wellbeing during this pandemic. Your donation has helped us to support the health and wellbeing of our staff, as well as helping to keep them well fed, energised and ready to respond to the challenges that COVID-19 has brought us.”
Cllr. Jeet Bains said “In this time of national and global crisis, we all need to play our part to help the vulnerable and those who are on the front line. I am pleased that we have been able to make these donations, and it’s great to see that nurses are benefiting directly.”
