Sikh Community Bands Together
A local councillor and Derby’s Sikh community have rallied in the face of coronavirus to deliver thousands of pounds worth of PPE to Royal Derby Hospital.
After a meeting with Manjeet Singh Riyat, who tragically passed away due to Covid 19, Councillor Balbir Sandhu set about fundraising to purchase PPE for our key workers.
The Help Us Help NHS project was set up by the local community and the not-for-profit scheme focuses on manufacturing scrubs for nurses and doctors fighting coronavirus in hospitals across the country.
Councillor Sandhu said that since the start of the pandemic, the project has created thousands of sets of scrubs for different key workers across the country. The manufacturing is based on requests the Help Us Help NHS project has received.
The protective clothing is produced at a factory which is owned by Councillor Sandhu, who donated the use of the facilities to the cause.
He said: “Since we have taken this campaign live, we have had many requests from different trusts and key workers requesting PPE, which illustrates that there is a demand and a lack of supply of PPE for our key workers.
“This is why we have to keep pushing on with this campaign and we have a fully functioning textile factory which I am happy to offer to support our NHS.”
Tim Diggle, Director of Derby & Burton Hospitals Charity, “All of us have been touched by this pandemic in one way or another. And Councillor Sandhu’s reaction to Manjeet Singh Riyat’s death echoes what many people feel, that they want to do something in the face of the virus to show support for our colleagues in the NHS. We are so grateful that Councillor Sandhu is able to help us by making scrubs at his factory. We know they will be used and we are so grateful for this gift – it means a great deal to us.”