Pharmacist is a ‘Hotspur Hero’
Maidenhead: Footie fan honoured for community work
A Maidenhead pharmacist who has been branded a hero by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has praised his fellow practitioners and supporters’ group ‘family’ for the work they have done during lockdown.
Spurs supporter Sachin Patel was named a ‘Hotspur Hero’ by his football club for the work he has done aiding the Maidenhead community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a senior head office manager at Boots, Sachin has been offering his expertise to vulnerable people in the community, as well as picking up and dropping off medication to the vulnerable and elderly.
Speaking to the Advertiser yesterday (Wednesday), Sachin praised staff across the pharmacy industry for working tirelessly during lockdown to keep people healthy.
He said: “Pharmacies have been providing a community service throughout this time, I know pharmacists that have moved out of their homes so they can keep working without risking infecting their families, to ensure the rest of the community can stay healthy.
“People have been able to see their local pharmacist and health care teams too, they are all trying to support the local community, its a place you can go to get some reassurance or advice.
“It's really nice to be involved, I’m really humbled by it. I’m blessed that I have been able to support my community.”
Although he is a trained pharmacist, Sachin’s role is based at the Boots head office, rather than in a pharmacy, so he came up with other ways of helping his community.
He said: “It was a case of getting in touch and asking if people needed medication, picking it up and delivering it, making sure my family and friends were looked after and giving them advice, trying to utilise my skill-set in a different way to support people.”
As well as working hard to support vulnerable people on his own, Sachin has also been part of a larger team effort through his Tottenham supporters group, Maidenhead Spurs.
During lockdown, the group has been working tirelessly to support the NHS and Maidenhead community, raising more than £1,000 for Wexham Park Hospital.
Members of the group have also been putting their different skills to use for the good of the community. Some of the younger members made PPE face shields for Wexham Park; Sachin and some others signed up to be NHS volunteer responders, and some have been making meals to send to the most vulnerable.
Sachin said: “We have been really involved in the community, supporting the community as a whole with lots of activities – it’s been an experience.
“It’s a family, and that’s why I can’t stop talking about it. I am part of a community which has members from lots of different ethnic minorities, people with different disabilities, that’s what I love about this.”
‘I’m blessed that I have been able to support my community’