A SEAMSTRESS is hoping to raise money to buy fabric so she can continue making scrubs for the NHS and other healthcare staff across the county.

Robyn Scott was a freelance costume maker until coronavirus and the ongoing lockdown stopped her. The 25-year-old mum-of-one now works at Morrisons supermarket, Portobello.

She wanted to help during the current crisis and thought the best way to do this was by using her skills as a seamstress.

She volunteered for ‘For the Love of Scrubs’, an initiative set up during the Covid-19 pandemic that aims to make and provide scrubs to NHS workers across the UK.

Robyn, who lives own Tranent’s Toll House Gardens, said: “I got in touch with the co-ordinator for my local area.

“I didn’t want to sit back. I felt like I had to help out and contribute.”

However, despite a huge number of people volunteering to help make the scrubs and several requests for scrubs coming in every day, there is not enough fabric to go around.

Robyn said: “I thought that I have to fundraise for fabric. A lot of money is going to the bigger cities as the demand there is higher.

“There is some money coming through but not enough to honour the requests made here.

“It’s frustrating – people want to get making but they can’t.

“People are desperate for scrubs. They need them now.”

She added that some healthcare workers are paying for scrubs, often for more than one set, something she says should not be happening. One nurse, who sent her a picture of her neck after a shift wearing non-suitable equipment, provided motivation for her to keep making the scrubs.

Robyn said: “Her neck was all red, swollen and blistered. It looked so red and sore.”

One set of scrubs costs about £8 to make. Fabric takes about five days to arrive once it has been ordered.

Robyn said: “Even if people could donate something small it would be fantastic.

“It’s been very hard work but it’s worth it.”

Once Robyn receives the material, which is hospital grade fabric, it needs to be washed in water at 60 degrees Celsius before being made into the scrubs.

The scrubs made by Robyn will go to hospitals throughout the NHS Lothian health board area, including the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital and some local GP surgeries.

The group making scrubs for NHS Lothian has so far made 193 sets, with a further 150 currently in production.

Donations can be made via justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fortheloveofscrubsnhslothian

Anyone in need of scrubs can enter their details at fortheloveofscrubs.scot

 

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