‘Noah Rainbow’ scrubs brightening Whipps Cross corridors
Rainbow scrubs have been brightening up our Whipps Cross corridors and wards, as staff opt to wear the brightly coloured donated designs.
The rainbow patterned scrubs were donated to staff on our Acorn children’s ward, and these are going to become the usual uniform for staff in the play team. They were kindly donated by ‘Sew Solid Crew’ – a group of ladies who decided to help out at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to aid PPE shortages.
The first item the group began making was masks in all different kinds of fabric. They donated these to hospitals, including Whipps Cross and Newham, and also donated them to food banks and refuge centres. They made masks for children in local schools too.
“We decided to further help the NHS when we received a roll of very special fabric which had been donated from funds raised by Noah, the son of radio DJ Chris Evans” says Maria, founder of Sew Solid Crew.
Noah, 11, raised £122,000 for national group Scrubs Glorious Scrubs by sleeping under the stars for 28 nights in a garden den - followed by proud dad Chris holding an auction which brought in £1.2m.
This money was used to buy more than 100,000 metres of a rainbow fabric named after Noah, designed by Tessa Semple, former head of design for department store Liberty London.
Sew Solid Crew were lucky receivers of the Noah Rainbow fabric and they have since donated masks, scrubs and children’s operating gowns to Whipps Cross Hospital and Newham Hospital.
The children’s operating gowns have just passed laundry testing and, going forward, will be offered to children undergoing procedures from the ages of three years up to around 11 years old. Teenagers will also be able to use an adult operating gown if they would like. Over 100 gowns have been donated which are all handmade, and of excellent quality.
Charlotte Blackett, a member of the play team on Acorn ward said: “We’ve had some really positive feedback from patients and colleagues who all love the scrubs. They’ve helped brighten the corridors and have been a great talking point for patients, families and children in our hospital. They’ve provided us with some positivity when we really needed it. We hope that the children’s gowns will help to make putting on an operating gown more fun for those who are nervous about undergoing a procedure. We’re really excited to start using them.”
Our Chief Executive, Alan Gurney, has even been spotted around the hospital in his very own set of rainbow scrubs!
If you would like to follow the progress of Sew Solid Crew and find out what they’re making next, visit their Twitter account: @sewsolidcrew