{"id":19059,"date":"2020-11-03T16:21:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T15:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=19059"},"modified":"2020-11-03T16:22:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T15:22:08","slug":"ni-scrubs-draws-to-a-close-after-making-106000-items-for-care-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2020\/11\/ni-scrubs-draws-to-a-close-after-making-106000-items-for-care-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"NI Scrubs Draws To A Close After Making 106,000 Items For Care Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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NI Scrubs team (from left) Clara Maybin, Angeline Murphy, Chloe Dugan and Clare Caulfield. Pic: Kasia Rogowiec | Polka dot Photo <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The mammoth effort of pulling together thousands of people to sew scrubs, scrub hats and gowns for hospitals, hospices, care homes and other caring professionals has drawn to a close with 106,000 items delivered to key workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brainchild of Clara Maybin at the start of the first lockdown, when nursing and care staff were facing shortages, it grew from an appeal to become an army of 9,000 sewers, including Great British Sewing Bee contestant, Angeline Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition a total of \u00a375,000 was raised to purchase the material to make the items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now hospitals have said they have sufficient stocks but Clara believes NI Scrubs has started something great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sheer sense of community we have created will last for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have built a real sewing community in Northern Ireland where people have made friends and ask for sewing advice every day. It is a truly invaluable group to a lot of people, in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angeline also believes the legacy will live on: \u201cIt was a great campaign that helped more than just the front line staff. It helped thousands of stitchers rediscover their skills, meet new friends and give back to society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started when Clara began collecting unused scrubs from dentists that were closing in lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I said I was doing that people started to say they could sew,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOvernight we had far too many people for the WhatsApp group and I had to set up a Facebook group<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe next day we had 80, the next week we had 800 and now we have nearly 9000.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a challenge that consumed every waking hour for Clara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I sit and think about it, it is madness,\u201d she said. When I think of how tough it was it is very overwhelming.  Every day got harder and harder, as more messages came through it was very hard to manage. And getting fabric to people up and down the country was so hard during the lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angeline became involved initially to join the scrub sewing army, but then realised her TV appearance meant she could do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI initially got involved to start sewing but realised that to make an impact I would be better suited to helping raise awareness of it from my profile on Sewing Bee and social media so I was able to get my followers on my pages to help,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, while NI Scrubs is winding down Angeline wants to continue supporting the sewing community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel I have a duty to keep the stitchers together and use their skills for the greater good,\u201d she said \u201cI have formed another group NI Big Community Sew in line with the UK wide campaign to make face coverings for the vulnerable in society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Clara she said she now plans to rest, and can reflect on the wider benefits of NI Scrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sheer sense of community we have created will last for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cNot only have we helped front line staff, I have had several messages from those helping saying we have helped their mental health through lockdown, which is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angeline believes that it has also made a difference beyond the scrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether we have made a big difference and all though seen as a dying art sewing is making a comeback,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt also proved that when people work together great things can be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mammoth effort of pulling together thousands of people to sew scrubs, scrub hats and gowns for hospitals, hospices, care homes and other caring professionals has drawn to a close with 106,000 items delivered to key workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The brainchild of Clara Maybin at the start of the first lockdown, when nursing … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19059"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19062,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19059\/revisions\/19062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}