Groups join together to support frontline staff during Covid-19 crisis
The Ethnic Minority Sports Organisation Northern Ireland and Belfast Asian Women Academy donated handmade scrubs to the Belfast Trust
Some of the volunteers with the scrubs
The Ethnic Minority Sports Organisation Northern Ireland (EMSONI) and Belfast Asian Women Academy (BAWA) have joined together in a Covid-19 community support project.
“From a simple conversation on the shortage of PPE equipment for our nurses to fight Covid-19, we wanted boost the confidence of our volunteers and develop their skills in sewing clothes,” explained Ana Chandran LLB Hons, Founder and Chair of BAWA.
“Although we would have loved to produce more of these scrubs, we are limited in resources.
“But we are delighted to do this because it has not only generated more volunteers in our communities, but people are beginning to see the beauty of giving back to society.
“Our volunteers were delighted to be a part of this project as this has helped their mental health during lockdown.”
It took just six volunteers to sew the scrubs in the space of three weeks.
Lacking any prior knowledge on how to sew, they used YouTube videos to learn some basic techniques.
“It was amazing seeing these volunteers and the leaderships of BAWA and EMSONI working together,” Ana added.
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“We reached an agreed deadline to raise money to buy the fabric and the other materials to make the scrubs, and shared knowledge by exchanging training videos to ensure that all scrubs were of the same standard.
“Now, these six volunteers can confidently say that they can sew.”
Faisal Kadiri, Public Relations Officer of EMSONI, said: “We are delighted to partner with BAWA in completing this project as it not only help us demonstrate our support to our nurses, NHS, and other frontline workers, but also a way to thank them.
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“On behalf of both BAWA and EMSONI, we just want to show our utmost gratitude to the frontline workers and for the sacrifices some of us have made during this pandemic.”
