If nothing else, 2020 has made us all realise just how resilient our health-care workers truly are as we’ve seen them battling to deal with an influx of patients. Since the pandemic began at the start of the year, health-care systems around the world have been invariably overwhelmed, with strains on resources and staff, resulting in workers having to get creative to adjust.
One of those creative souls is NHS nurse Ashleigh Linsdell who used her seamstress skills to solve a growing problem that her and her team mates were facing. And little did she know that her humble act of kindness would become a nation-wide effort, and would eventually lead to her being honoured with an OBE.
This is Cambridge’s story of thanks for Ashleigh Linsdell for her creativity and generosity in making scrubs for fellow staff members when supplies ran short.
According to an article by BBC news, ‘It started when supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) ran short at her A&E department and she used her own money to buy fabric and make scrubs for colleagues.’
After the home-made scrubs initial success, Ashleigh set up a Facebook group, ‘for the love of scrubs’, to provide instructions and support for others wanting to get involved. The page expanded drastically and now, ‘two months on, the movement has 148 sub-groups around the country to help organise local activity. More than 70,000 volunteers helped make 1.2 million items of PPE for front-line workers, and another million face coverings.’
Imagine if we all went above and beyond to help our colleagues solve a problem within the workplace. Now, we’re not suggesting that you have to launch a nation-wide campaign like Ashleigh, but even just a small gesture to go the extra mile could make a world of difference.
If your colleague is overloaded with work and you’re ahead of schedule, offer to take something off their plate, or if you see someone who’s new to the business struggling with something, offer to take some time to give them some tips. A little bit of kindness goes a long way.
What are you grateful for? Say thank you the best way we know how, by sharing your story on sharegratitude.com