MEMBERS of a sequence dancing club have used their free time in lockdown to help make scrubs and facemasks for NHS workers.
After the members of the U3A group could no longer meet due to lockdown restrictions, they decided to help in any way they could and began making scrubs hats and masks for medical workers.
The idea came when about the granddaughter of member Pat Butcher asked for some scrub hats to be made for her to wear on the Covid-19 ward at Northern General Hospital.
Pat and group co-ordinator Angela Gensavage set about making the hats in different fabrics to help bring some cheer to the ward, and to help the doctors identify each other while wearing protective equipment.
“The hats help to keep your hair off your face,” said Angela, 71. “We found a pattern and set about making the hats and we soon got it down to making one mask in 30 minutes.
“They are all the same size but we made them in different patterned fabrics because they are the only thing that can be a different colour to your scrubs.”
Angela, Pat and three other members of the dance group made 100 hats for the staff at Northern General Hospital, and 80 for the staff at Barnsley Hospital.
“We were working on the equipment for about a month,” added Angela. “In the end it was quite therapeutic to do because we are all shielding so it gave us something to do.
“My neighbours were really lovely and they brought around a lot of material that we could use. We are just trying to do our bit to help during the pandemic.
“I feel quite proud of our group. We were all just happy to help and be productive while we are all at home.”
