Salvation!
Mail Force to the rescue at Sally Army care home with another vital donation of NHS-grade PPE
‘It’s well appreciated’
OCTOGENARIAN Margaret Garratt has just two words to say about Daily Mail readers and the Mail Force charity – ‘Simply marvellous!’
The 88-year-old widow was full of praise after the charity delivered vital PPE to her Salvation Army care home.
The batch of 1,000 masks and 1,000 aprons were gratefully received by Emma Bailie, who runs Youell Court, which has 46 staff and 32 residents – many of them with dementia.
She said the donation, funded by Mail readers, would help the home, in Binley, Coventry, concentrate on funding activities and helping with personal care.
‘During the coronavirus pandemic we have had to isolate some residents’, Mrs Bailie added. ‘That meant activities had to be conducted on a oneto-one basis, which has meant that PPE use has increased.
‘An increasing amount of our budget was going on PPE, but this donation means we can concentrate on spending money on other things to help meet resident needs – such as work to transform the courtyard into an outdoor space full of plants, or the indoor fairy garden residents have made out of twigs.
‘Residents are not seeing their relatives because of lockdown, so we are having to think what else we can do to boost their wellbeing. We are incredibly grateful for this donation.’
It’s a sentiment echoed by Mrs Garratt, who spent her working life as an NHS administrator.
She said her fellow residents and the staff at Youell Court were ‘very grateful’ for the NHSgrade masks and aprons.
Mrs Garratt, whose husband Peter died 19 years ago in his sixties, moved to the home in September after two stints of respite care.
Mrs Bailie said the pensioner was one of a number of residents who have helped to transform one of the property’s two courtyards into a useable extra outdoor space during lockdown.
She said making sure stocks of PPE were maintained was a ‘ huge concern’ for the home, adding: ‘The amount of PPE we can go through can be a bit of an eye-opener.
‘We wear two masks per sevenhour shift – but if a mask gets soiled or taken off to have a break then it would need to be replaced.
‘We would only swap masks after caring for a resident if that person was Covid-19 positive, but even so we can easily get through 80 to 100 masks a day.’
Mrs Bailie praised the ‘ high quality’ polythene aprons produced by More Polythene at its factory in Blackburn, Lancashire, for Mail Force.
These, she said, would be used by staff when giving personal care to residents. She added: ‘We have had some that came to us on a big roll, like bin bags, and they often ripped when they were torn off the roll for use.’
Mail Force was set up to support NHS staff, volunteers and care workers as they tackle Covid-19. It is a separate charity established and backed by the Daily Mail and General Trust.
Money raised by Mail readers will fund equipment needed by the NHS and care workers – kit that is vital in protecting heroic health staff.
Another consignment of 1,000 masks and 1,000 aprons was delivered to a hostel run by the Sally Army in nearby Foleshill.
Harnall Lifehouse helps prepare former rough sleepers – many of whom have mental health difficulties or a history of addiction or time in jail – to live self-sufficiently and productively in the community. The charity owns the 80-room building and is commissioned by Coventry council to provide its complexneeds service for residents, who can stay for up to two years.
Staff said the PPE will let them conduct one-to- one consultations or life skill sessions with residents more easily, as well as being used on one of the building’s 16 landings, which has been turned into a five-room isolation unit during the pandemic.
Under an arrangement with the council, any rough sleepers who have been moved to temporary accommodation but show signs of coronavirus can be moved to the Lifehouse until a test confirms whether they have coronavirus or not.
During this period, staff delivering meals to their rooms have to wear full PPE.
Sharon Lander, who is the service manager at Harnall Lifehouse, said: ‘We are really grateful for this donation – it will help us out massively.’
Resident Miles Phelan, 54, who has been at the centre for six months, spent much of the past 20 years in prison – where he developed a drug habit – for burglary and robbery offences.
He said he was ready to live in social housing, adding: ‘I struggled to adapt in the real world when I came out of prison.
‘A drugs charity got me a bed here after helping with medication to get my addictions under control. I’m now clean. The Lifehouse has been a place of stability. If it wasn’t for the staff here I don’t know where I would be.
‘It’s incredible what your readers have helped to achieve. It will make it easier for me to talk things through with staff on a one-to- one basis, and it must give peace of mind to the staff too, knowing that they have this protective equipment to wear.
‘It’s well appreciated.’