Three local designers have joined forces to make and supply scrubs for frontline NHS staff. Brighton-based business owners Dale George, Helen Mullany and Melinda Lawrence have been using their design skills and contacts to coordinate their charitable initiative. Thanks to generous public donations to Dale’s NHS Heroes fundraiser, the team have been able to distribute over 1,200 scrubs, hats and bags to NHS staff in the Sussex area so far.
Their efforts have helped supply scrubs to the Princess Royal Hospital, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Worthing Hospital, as well as multiple local GPs and carehomes. Brighton Journal spoke to the cofounder of the fundraising campaign, Dale, about the Heroes fundraiser, and what this project means to him.
Since launching the Heroes GoFundMe fundraiser three weeks ago, cofounder of the campaign Dale George and his team have raised over £11,000 thanks to generous public donations. Dale told Brighton Journal that many designers around the UK have had to postpone work until restrictions are lifted, but have been keen to use their skills to support the NHS during this critical time. Dale and his cofounder Claire Williamson set up the campaign to support various UK-wide “scrub groups,” including Dale’s own group here in Sussex. Dale said:
In three weeks we’ve raised £11,000, and had about 1,200 scrubs made up for local [Sussex] hospitals. We’ve also donated funds to other scrubs groups around the country to help them get going with their campaigns.
We’ve supported the Cornwall scrub group, the Isle of White group, a Leicester group, the Cotswold groups, and a Leeds group that my co-founder Claire is now running, with donations and recommendations of fabrics suppliers.
Dale told Brighton Journal that from now onwards, the Heroes campaign will have a local focus, as his team will primarily be making scrubs for the The Royal Sussex County Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital. Helping Dale to coordinate the project in the Sussex area are local interior designers, Helen and Melinda. The three designers are collectively running a team of roughly 200 local volunteers who are committed to sewing scrubs. Dale said that all levels of skill have been incredibly useful in driving the project forward:
Helen, Melinda and myself have collated a huge team of local sewers. All different levels of skill have been used, whether that be for cutting fabric, making waistbands, making bags, or sewing scrubs.
In order to alleviate the current pressure on Royal Mail staff, Dale explained that the team have been committed to delivering scrubs to local hospitals themselves:
Helen’s husband Nigel, Melinda’s husband Rusty and I have been driving around Sussex delivering and collecting fabrics and scrubs to hospitals and GP surgeries to save the wait with Royal Mail.
With the demand for hospital gowns on the rise, Dale is considering ways that the sewing team could be adapted to hopefully start producing these as well.
Dale expressed his gratitude towards Merrick & Day, a trade suppliers of fabric who continue to supply himself and the team with the metres fabric needed to make this project a reality. Thanks to public donations, the Heroes fundraiser has enabled over 2,500m of fabric, reels and waistband tape to reach scrubs volunteers across the UK.
Dale told Brighton Journal how much this project means to him:
Running this initiative has personally given me a sense of normality in my day to day life during this pandemic. At the beginning when lockdown commenced, I like many others didn’t know how to comprehend the situation as it was so unprecedented, overwhelming and life changing. I worried about my sanity, my businesses, finances, loved ones and the future.
Keeping busy whilst working on this project has been like conducting a full time job and a sense of routine. I’ve also met lots of new people through social media during the fundraising process and my network has expanded. I’ve become more appreciative of the basics in life and I’m very thankful for where I live by the sea. Having my lovely neighbours and family as a super network is and has been very valuable.
Even though I’ve temporarily been able to forget about what’s going on in the world, at the same time it’s been wonderful knowing we are doing our part as a collective in supporting our NHS.
You can find out more about Dale’s Heroes fundraiser here. Dale, Helen and Melinda have also put together a Facebook page for their Sussex scrubs group.
Brighton Journal previously featured Dale George as an “Artist of the Week”. The article can be found here.
