It’s in the bag... thanks to Aileen
A hospital worker has put her sewing skills to good use by stitching together scrub washbags for hardworking NHS staff.
Aileen Delece Chalmers works as a ward administrator at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital so is well aware of the challenges facing frontline health staff during the pandemic.
A keen sewer, she decided to appeal on Kilbarchan Facebook groups for donations of material so she could make washbags for hospital staff to put their used scrubs in when they come off shift. The bag means the scrubs can go straight into the wash and not come into contact with anything else.
She’s also made cloth face masks for staff and has shared all her cut material with other online sewing groups.
The Kilbarchan woman said: “I sew and I also work in the hospital so I knew they needed washbags. I started a couple of weeks after the lockdown.
“Staff can put their contaminated uniform that they’ve worn into the washbags and when they get home put the whole thing into the washing machine.
“I have a friend who’s made smaller bags for clean uniforms. I put an appeal out on Facebook for donations of material, duvet covers and sheets, things like that. I got so much, people were very generous.”
Aileen appealed to Bridge of Weir Leather to help with the cutting and Debra Choong, the company’s product designer, was only too happy to help.
Debra said: “I know Aileen’s neighbour and she told me about what Aileen was doing. We’ve got big cutting machines at the factory so it was easy for me to do.
“I was happy to be involved. My sewing skills aren’t up to much but I could cut all the material up.”
Over four weeks, Aileen made 54 scrub washbags which were distributed to RAH staff, district nurses, GP surgeries and dentists. She received donations of material, thread, ribbons and buttons.
She’s switched up from working part-time to full-time during the pandemic so she donated all the material she had collected to other groups making washbags for NHS Scotland staff after her four-week effort.
“I’m taking a step back now,” she said. “Some friends have asked me to make facemasks for them and their children so I’ll do that but apart from that, I’ve stopped the washbags for now.
“I did enjoy doing it. People were so generous giving me things and people seem to have appreciated what I’ve made.
“It’s been lovely to be able to do my bit to help.”