Soaps give a lift to those with a lot on their hands
Keri Squibb from Dorchester is sending hospitals and key workers her handmade gifts as a way to say thanks for all they are Doing to help others and save lives
THE United Kingdom is pulling together as one, with people from all regions doing what they can to help each other in the current crisis.
Sometimes it’s the little treats that make a difference to your day. Keri Squibb is a woman who appreciates this. So she’s sending out handmade soaps to key workers and hospitals.
Keri, from Dorchester, started out making dog-grooming products and her speciality is soap. Before Covid hit, she ran workshops to teach people how to make their own – both for themselves and for their pets.
“I’m quite well-known for my dog soaps,” she says. “I set up my teaching business and took on a new unit so I could have a workspace in February. It wasn’t good timing! But I was still making soap and I thought I’d start donating a few to people to say thank-you for all their hard work.”
Keri, who runs The Soap Coach, is one of many people going out of her way to do something kind to make life better for other people at this difficult time. The modest mum says giving the soaps is just a small gesture, but it’s one that means a lot to the grateful people receiving them.
“One of my friends is a nurse in the local children’s ward (Kingfisher Ward at Dorset County Hospital) and I thought it’d be a nice thing to do to give them something,” she says. “So at first I donated 50 soaps to her to distribute. Then I saw our local radio station, Wessex FM, has a community board where you can let people know if you’ve got things to give away. I popped the offer on there and I’ve had requests for more.”
Since then, Keri has gifted more than 100 soaps, which take weeks to make. “I’ve just given some to a dementia ward, I sent some to staff in the local prison and I gave some to the ladies in the local post office because they’re lovely.
“I’ve had requests from the NHS which I’m working through,” she says. “Making soap is a long process, but it’s not as hard as people think. It’s a bit daunting to begin with and there’s a bit of chemistry involved, but it doesn’t have to be complicated so once you’ve learned the process you can easily make your own at home.”
Her handmade soaps contain tea tree and lavender oil,
‘One of my friends is a nurse in the local children’s ward and I thought it’d be a nice thing to do to give them something’
and they have anti-microbial properties.
“People like to have a little treat, don’t they?” Keri says. “Each soap is handmade and I’m certainly not sending out thousands of bars!
“I think I’ve made about 100 so far and I’ve probably got the same amount lined up so I’m just working through them.
“Soap doesn’t take long to make – about an hour and you can cut it 24 to 48 hours later – but it has to cure for a few weeks before you can use it.”
Keri describes the gifts as “a treat to brighten people’s days” and says that she feels lucky to live somewhere that has such a strong community spirit, and is glad that she can contribute to it. “Our street all look forward to getting together to clap for the NHS on a Thursday night, but because I’m working I don’t get the chance to get too stuck in,” she says. “So it’s nice to do something small for people. We’re having a little socially distanced ‘street party’ for VE day, where we’ll all go out to our front gardens, but stay safely apart.
“I think little things like that make a difference to how people feel.”