[View this email in your browser]() # **Scrubbery September Newsletter** Last week we gathered in Westminster in the Houses of Parliament to celebrate all that we have achieved, and to thank everyone at the Scrubbery. This was an event in the planning for over a year, with many false starts and postponements because of external events.

For those of you who came and joined in on Thursday last week you know what a fabulous event Fleur Anderson treated us to, but for those who could not make it we hope you can share in some of the special moments, through the pages of this newsletter.

Given recent historical events in Westminster it was rather challenging, to say the least, for Fleur and her hard-working team to host us all – but they most certainly lived up to the challenge. Fleur personally welcomed everyone and helped alongside her team to set up the reception area with wine, soft drinks, nibbles and handmade sandwiches. All the volunteers who had come started mingling, chatting and discovering all the back stories which was lovely – some brought friends and family to share the moment too. Rosie, Christopher, Raphael, Genevieve and her baby son, Tobias, were all there as well, and we managed to fill the Atlee Room at Portcullis House right next to Big Ben. A very illustrious setting indeed. Fleur kicked off the speeches by talking about how she and Rosie had shared many hours in meetings and how she was always amazed by Rosie’s drive and determination, and the way she created the Scrubbery. The common story from across the spectrum of volunteers was the feeling of togetherness and everyone playing their part in the big successes that the Scrubbery has achieved. Fleur was delighted to be able to give Rosie – on behalf of the whole team of volunteers – her[ Points of Light award](https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/the-scrubbery/) from the Government for her outstanding commitment to the community, especially during the height of the pandemic, as evidenced by rainbow scrubs being seen in every vaccination centre in London! Fleur also announced that Rosie with her thorough understanding of the issues in procurement, garment design and purpose, and the practicalities of the scrub supply chain, had helped bring about a change to the whole system based on her recommendations – including following the Welsh model where colours of scrubs only apply to hierarchy not department – saving the NHS a lot of money and stopping wastage. Rosie then responded by thanking Fleur for her ongoing support and dedication to resolving the “scrubs issue” within the NHS, and for being such a staunch ally in conversations with Government, NHS and Civil Servants, and helping change to happen. 

Special thanks went to Anna who organised and made all the sandwiches for the evening on her own, to Matthew who helped get the event off the ground and to Anisah, Jack and Dan for all their hard work. 

Rosie emphasised that we are the sum of all the little parts and we are all Points of Light – it didn’t matter if you just cut elastic or wrote out cards or did the sewing of hundreds of hats and scrubs – everything counted towards the whole. We have been going for almost 3 years now and in that time we have delivered, among other items: - 21,833 scrub items - 11,246 masks - 6,977 scrub hats - 1,489 wellbeing bags with another 530 in the pipeline still - 4,625 laundry bags If you assign a modest figure of £25 as the cost of a set of scrubs, it works out that we have contributed more than £475K of stock in this time, at no charge, all achieved by volunteers. Other milestones are: - We have lobbied Government and NHS Supply Chain for changes in internal systems to prevent this happening again - We have taught people to sew, including a new generation of machinists - We are working with HM Prison service to give new direction and purpose to people there via sewing scrubs - We have reduced landfill by reworking, repurposing and recycling fabric and all our fabric scraps - We have contributed to the greening initiative at St. George's by supplying scrub hats where they used to use disposable ones – saving money and the planet! - We have sent out thousands of scrubs to vaccination centres and GP surgeries - We have supplied over 788 sets of scrubs to overseas healthcare institutions – both in war torn countries and those ravaged by natural events. Rosie went to great lengths to stress that it was not just about being able to sew – what the Scrubbery gave back to those that volunteered was manifold, but some of these things were: - A sense of purpose when there was none to be found at the start of the pandemic - A new “family” of volunteers – be that on the WhatsApp group or in person at any of our former sites - Some have learned new skills – or honed long forgotten ones. - Camaraderie in tough times - Somewhere to come to refocus and find a new direction A few brave souls came up to the rostrum to tell their back story of why they joined and what they got from the experience, and they were all different, yet poignant and uplifting.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, culminating in a personalised tour of the Houses of Parliament led by Fleur. Judging from the feedback it was an incredibly interesting and unmissable experience – thank you so much, Fleur. **Some of the other news for the month**

We have started a sewing club at the Academy  - making bunting with upcycled material  - the aim is to teach simple sewing techniques to the youngsters whilst allowing them to carry on at home with readily available materials.

We have continued working on the Camouflage netting – Suzy and John deserving special mention for their endeavours in completing the nets. One of our nets has become famous – some Ukrainian soldiers took the time to send back a short [video](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1162125891320558&id=100011397314036) of a self propelled howitzer with our netting on it heading for action! So we know our hard work is being received and put to use, and it shows how appreciative the soldiers are that they have taken the time out to record and send back this type of message.

We have been making children's pyjamas for the Matron on the Paediatric Ward at St. George's – they look sensational, thanks are due especially to Maria Keene for these. For Little Village we have been busy designing and making child friendly drawstring bags from up cycled fabric, for large and unwieldy items like slings – and they can be used over and over again.

Finally on a more formal note, as you may know, there has been discussion of late as to whether the Scrubbery should remain under the auspices of the Parish Action Committee in the Parish of Putney. After a recent Parish Council Meeting it was decided to restructure and the Scrubbery will now report direct to the Parochial Church Council. As such we need to look at our governance and have a couple of openings for anyone who might be interested. We are putting together a small committee to provide this oversight, Richard Holman has kindly agreed to be the Treasurer, Christo has agreed to be Secretary, and we are considering what additional roles will be needed. Thank you Richard and Christo. For more information please contact Rosie at [scrubbery.stitch@gmail.com](mailto:scrubbery.stitch@gmail.com). **OUR THANKS **as always go to the quiet industrious team that makes this all possible, but we are continually looking for more seamstresses if you know of any do spread the word!