SCRUBS FOR EPSOM & ST. HELIER
Alison Gillott
I first read on 'I live in Leatherhead' that a group had been formed and felt this was something I could offer to do. I had a sewing machine and had inherited a large supply of cotton reels from my late mother-in-law, many of them the old wooden ones. I never thought I would use them or lessons learnt from ‘O’level needlework for such a good cause.
One of my first tasks was to make scrubs laundry bags for my daughter and daughter-in-law who work for the NHS. Then I started making bags for the group asking friends and neighbours for pillowcases and duvets. Folk were only too happy to donate. I then used the scraps from the bags for hats and headbands. The buttons came from folk in adjoining road whose WhatsApp group I had joined, resulting in lots of packets of buttons arriving on my doorstep.
My first outing during lockdown was to Ashtead to pick up a scrubs pattern from someone's porch and asked by the admin team, I transported a bolt of fabric from Fetcham to Tadworth at the same time. My husband came along for the outing !
The involvement in the group gave me a focus and contact with others throughout lockdown. I’ve kept all the cotton reels I used, hoping to recycle them into a game like the one my late father-in-law made.
