Last week, Ferndown member John Hollingdale, an orthopaedic surgeon at two hospitals in Middlesex, sent a message to Past-Captain Matt Fleming asking about his contacts in the housebuilding business.
John had discovered that most masks in common use in the construction industry were of a type that would protect against infection from the Coronavirus. On the basis that the builders were closing their sites up and down the country, he asked if they could donate any spare Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to Hospitals where they were so desperately needed.
Matt posed the question in a post on LinkedIn, the social networking site for the business community and, within a few days, it had been viewed over 15,000 times and been re-posted over 100 times.
The results were amazing; developers started trawling their stocks and asking their suppliers and sub-contractors to do the same. One them loaded up his car the same day and drove to Northwick Park hospital to deliver the PPE personally. The Home Builders’ Federation, the industry body, took up the challenge of coordination and launched their PPE4NHS campaign. Virtually every one of the UK’s top 20 developers has got involved and, as a result, tens of thousands of items of PPE have been delivered to NHS frontliners up and down the country.
John’s colleague and fellow surgeon, Matthew Sala, sent him and Matt a congratulatory message which ended “this will definitely save lives”.
John and Matthew were also doing their best to track down smaller independent suppliers of PPE to fill the gap while the Government machine started to operate and opened a bank account to fund purchases of these crucial supplies. When the Alliss Invitational Charity heard about this campaign, they held an emergency committee meeting and agreed an immediate payment of £2,500 – money that would go straight into PPE for the frontliners.
Ferndown members can also support that charity by making payments into the Alliss Charity – the Alliss Committee are hoping to double the donation with the support of generous members. Donations are already being made by Ferndown Golf Club Members….Thank you.
The enormous new Nightingale hospital just made ready for thousands of Coronavirus patients in London, is to have part of it named the Dame Yvonne Moores unit. Dame Yvonne Moores is a life member of Ferndown Golf Club and was for many years the Chief Nursing Officer for England. More recently Dame Yvonne is now the Chair of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, a tremendous honour.
Whilst not playing golf Julie Richardson has been busy working within a small team to help set up the Local Community Coronavirus group of volunteers.
They are a dedicated group of volunteers from the local community, coming together following the Coronavirus Pandemic. They are there to provide help and support to those in our community who are self isolating and unable to leave their homes at the present time. The areas covered are Ferndown, Longham, Stapehill, Hampreston, Tricketts Cross, Heatherlands and West Parley. There are other similar groups covering the surrounding areas.
Their help is provided for free and they can help with:-
If you, or someone you know is in need of the above help or support, please call the dedicated helpline on 01202 936121. The line is open 7 days a week between 9am and 5pm. Already a number of people have been helped and this is expected to increase over the coming days and weeks. The local Chamber of Commerce is assisting with matching volunteers to those needing help and support.
Julie Richardson, is being supported by Ladies' Captain, Maureen Young and Ladies' Vice-Captain, Lesley Trevett and are part of the team of volunteers who will be answering calls so if you do call you never know you may get one of them! All calls are of course treated in the strictest of confidence.
For more information please visit the website www.ferndowncommunitycoronavirussupport.org.uk or Facebook page called Ferndown Community Coronavirus Support. More volunteers are needed so if anyone would like to register as a volunteer you can do so via the website. You can also register for help and support on the website.
Other members at Ferndown Golf Club are also offering support including Joanna Dawson to members requiring support please contact Joanna direct, Eddie Meggs missed the Captains Committee last week so that he could make a blood donation.
With regards to blood donations there is a worldwide shortage of blood. Inevitably this is due to Covid 19 as some donors are unwell and others have stopped donating. It is vital that donation levels are maintained as during this crisis there are still many people who require transfusions. One of the acceptable reasons to travel is to donate. If you are wondering what you can do this is another way to help at this time. The blood donor website www.blood.co.uk gives details of how you can donate if eligible.