Perthshire Advertiser

Scrubs effort makes dramatic difference

But theatre rep’s wardrobe head needs your help

- PAUL CARGILL

A woman behind a drive to get hardpresse­d NHS Tayside staff enough scrubs to see them through the COVID-19 pandemic is hoping to deliver thousands to workers in the coming weeks.

Cate Mackie, who is the head of wardrobe at Dundee Rep and the Scottish Dance Theatre, is co-ordinating the efforts of dozens of people across Tayside who have volunteere­d to make scrubs for medical workers said to be running low on supplies.

Louise Robertson, head of wardrobe at Perth Theatre, has been assisting the group as has Perth woman Becky Minto, who had to drive to Glasgow and back to collect a car boot full of fabric needed to make the uniforms.

The group is aiming to make a thousand of each size local NHS workers may require over the next few weeks as part of the wider ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ movement, which has seen so-called ‘scrub hubs’ establishe­d all over the country to help staff facing shortages.

Cate told the PA she plans to send drivers out to collect all the tops and trousers her team produce each week then drop the lot off at her house.

One of NHS Tayside’s drivers will then collect the assembled kit from her house and take it to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee where staff will decide how the scrubs ought to be distribute­d.

Cate said: “We only got an order from NHS Tayside last week so it’s early days yet but there are thousands in production at the moment.

“We’ve been asked to make a thousand small, a thousand medium, a thousand large and as many extra large and extra, extra large as we can.”

Asked who else she had working for her at the moment, Cate went on: “I’ve got some folk saying they’ll produce a hundred sets a week because they have the facilities to do that and then I’ve got other folk saying they could make a couple of sets at their kitchen table – it can go from one extreme to another.

“And folk who can’t sew have been offering to drive - I’ve got a group of drivers and they all go off in different directions [to pick up the scrubs] because we don’t want the folk who are sewing driving around and dropping things off as it uses up time they could be sewing.”

However Cate went on to warn that her team could run out of fabric if demand for scrubs remains high as the movement is relying on donations from the public to buy materials at the moment.

She said: “We can only keep going while there is still funding so if people don’t keep donating we will eventually run out of fabric.

“A lot of people are having to spend their own money to keep it going.”

To make a donation to the movement go to the gofundme website, search for ‘NHS Scotland – For the Love of Scrubs’ to find its unique page then click on ‘donate now’.

Or to get involved in the movement go to www. forthelove­ofscrubs.scot

If people don’t keep donating we will eventually run out of fabric

 ??  ?? Scrubbing upLouise Robertson, head of wardrobe at Perth Theatre
Scrubbing upLouise Robertson, head of wardrobe at Perth Theatre

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