October News
What we are, and have been, working on this month:
We still need people to volunteer, both in house and sewing from home – if you know anyone or can spread the word please do – the demand is still very much there for scrubs, wellbeing bags, and scrub tops as well as all the masks, scrunchies, hats and head bands that we produce.
Secondly, if you know anyone who would like to take on delivery and collections for us, especially on Fridays – again please reach out to Rosie. Being a driver for us involves taking kits to homes, collecting kits to return to the Scrubbery, and dropping off to hospitals and GP practices in and around London. It is an important role, as the flow of our goods is dependent on them being sewn, returned to us, and delivered on. Even if you could help just one day a week – that would really help!
This month we have sent out consignments to :
St George's University Hospital
Springfield Hospital
Whipps Cross Hospital – including rainbow masks and scrunchies for the hospital to include in care packages
Newham Hospital
The Royal London
Queen Mary Vaccination Hub
Princess Alice Hospice
Gravesend GP Alliance
Nightingale Hammerson Care Home
West Middlesex Hospital, Little Village Afghan refugee appeal– not only did we send out the call for goods and items, we also collected and collated them, washed, sorted and ensured that they were all fit for purpose, before sending them on.
Here is some feedback from Helen Speedy at Little Village:
Thank you enormously for the donations. The team were really blown away by the quality of the donations, the time and effort spent sorting them (which means for us that we can get them out to families more quickly) and the generosity. Thank you very much and please do pass our thanks on to all involved in the collection.
STOP PRESS:
We have just sent out our 1000th Well being bag – they are being so well received across the board, so thank you for your contribution to lifting spirits.
The lucky recipient was Andrea Pillar...
"I started working as a dietitian at Newham University Hospital in November 2018 and have participated in many events. I would never imagine that I’d be the lucky 1000th person receiving the Wellbeing Goodie Bag from the Scrubbery project. It makes it extra special. I have never won anything by luck before and this has really made my day. I was approached by my clinical lead, Gabby Ramlan, before I finished for the day. I thought I’d done something wrong and could not believe it when she mentioned that I would be receiving a special wellbeing goodie bag by The Scrubbery and I was the 1000th recipient. It was even more special to receive the Wellbeing Bag presented by my Head of Therapies, Pip Nott and our Lead Wellbeing & QI, Catriona Rowland. The handmade card that came with the wellbeing bag gave an even more personal touch. I am very impressed with the hand stitch embroidery and the handwritten name tag on the bag. I’m definitely loving every goody that came with it. I would first like to use the instant soothing nourishing mask as a treat for this weekend and enjoy the truffle chocolates that came. The wellbeing goodie bag is a fantastic project, and I am very sure that every single recipient will feel very appreciated. Thank you for your thoughts and efforts to make us feel special"
Meet some more of the Team
We never meet Bryony in person because she is one of the people we deliver to and collect from at her home, so we want to introduce her. Bryony works on larger batches of kits, because she lives out of the borough, and it always a boost to our productivity when her sewing is returned.
Bryony
Bryony’s career was spent working for the Civil Service, and she has since retired. Having learned to sew as a child, she has continued on with this interest all her life undertaking projects at home and for the family. Post retirement she has found the time to get involved in amateur dramatics in Chiswick, and it was through this she was introduced by another member to the Scrubbery, since then she has been one of our stalwarts. Normally she makes theatre costumes, but she kindly makes 50 -100 masks / headbands or well being bags at a time, these are collected by Salimah who also kindly does some deliveries / collections for us.
Lettie Gingell
Can’t sew for toffee! Not a good starting point really, but as it transpires she is a dab hand at unpicking, folding kits, assembling well being bags, and doing the bare bones of this newsletter. She heard an appeal on Radio Jackie at the start of the pandemic and decided it was time to give of herself – soul food is how she described it, to think that she can do something for someone else in these fairly self-obsessed times.
She usually comes in on a Friday afternoon to pick up on the little tasks that hopefully move the operation forward a little. When not helping out at the Hub, her life is consumed by working full time, and gardening for others on a Wednesday. In the evenings and at weekends she likes to play tennis for a club in Kingston.
Poppy & Millie Bradshaw
Poppy is 11 and Millie is 14. My mum, their Nana, has always been very keen on them learning to sew, and bought them their own sewing machines from a young age. So that was their first introduction to sewing, which was then built upon last year when lockdown arrived. They were both very interested in the work the Scrubbery was doing, and knew from a family friend who is a GP, how serious the lack of PPE was and how important the sewing was. So our house has had the sound of sewing machines going for the past 18 months! So much so that we had to get a sound absorbing mat and feet for the sewing table to try to reduce the noise for Chris, who was working from home!
Both girls have made themselves and their friends a number of scrunchies over the years, so when they knew the Scrubbery was making them, they were so pleased to be able to help, even if just a little bit.
The work of the Scrubbery has helped show the girls how local community social action can have a real impact on people’s lives and be a change for good.
Thank you for providing opportunities for them to be involved.
News :
On the 28th of September we had a visit from the Mayor of Wandsworth, driven to the Scrubbery in his official car and in his very smart official regalia. He was most impressed by our operation and spent a long time talking to all the volunteers and getting an insight into the scale of the projects we undertake. Many thanks to all those who came in or contributed to the food donations for afternoon tea – most delicious!
As it happened Rosie was nominated for a community award that the Mayor was presenting the following day – so she went along to promote the cause and to thank all our supporters. It is good to get the recognition the charity deserves and Rosie was happy to accept it on behalf of the whole team.
The certificate reads "Wandsworth Council wishes to thank Rosie Taylor-Davies in recognition and acknowledgement of a significant contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic and awards the Mayor's pin badge and entry on the Roll of Honour".
A happy coincidence was that during the evening Rosie got talking Jacqueline Totterdell, the CEO at St George's University Hospital, a very useful contact for us – keeps us close to the frontline at hospitals, and gives us a better understanding of what is needed and when and by whom.
The other visitor to mention this month has been a cheeky squirrel which has been coming into both rooms - presumably drawn by the smell of home cooked soda bread and the biscuits. We have chased him out several times, but now leave all the entrance doors shut to further deter him, so please try to shut the doors behind you if you are coming in.
Lucy Hawes sent through this little snippet she had found – hopefully times have changed in the way we have to dress at least!
Advice from a Singer Sewing Machine Manual from 1949
Prepare yourself mentally for sewing.
Think about what you are going to do. Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference dominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade.
When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so that your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. When you sew make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful that a visitor might drop in, or your husband will come home, and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing.
Editor’s note:
Obviously no men ever had to sew in the home back in the Forties! That said, my father learnt to sew whilst convalescing in the army, and I still have the stuffed toy he made. Perhaps the army was a little more enlightened than we thought back then.
I shall look forward to seeing a marked improvement in the general appearance of the volunteers – lipsticks to the fore ladies!
Image from Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs, State Library of Victoria.
Members Forum – have you got any questions or can you supply any answers?
Q. What can you do with used machine needles – can they be recycled?
A. No strangely they can not – just either collect them up in an old film canister or something like that or pierce a piece of material with them and dispose of that into your landfill. If you have any better solutions – please share them!
Q. Who would you recommend to do sewing machine servicing / repairs?
A. We have a couple or recommendations but you may know more – we have had good experiences with both sewingengineer@gmail.com and sewingmachine@btinternet.com – both are local and even come onsite.
Q. What happens to all the tiny scraps of material from the Hub?
A. As little as possible is wasted, so we pass on the bits of material that we can’t use anymore and are sent to someone up north who makes masks with Perspex holes so people can lip read, or to the Linux Project who make quilts for vulnerable children and babies.