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Nottingham High School teenagers’ sewing project makes a difference for patients at Nottingham City Hospital
Nottingham High School teenagers’ sewing project makes a difference for patients at Nottingham City Hospital
A group of 14-year-old friends from Nottingham High School have learned how to sew surgical drain bags in a school textile project which has resulted in a donation of the bags for two wards at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) City campus.
Chloe Cavan, Abbie Johns, Ashana De Silva and Charlotte Simmonds have been working hard over the past three months to create these textile bags for patients to use.
The whole project was the brainchild of Chloe Cavan who was inspired to help when she saw her own mum using a surgical drain after having an operation for her own burns surgery. Chloe’s mum, Olivia Cavan, had an accident when she was just two years old and then years later went on to have a career in the NHS and work with and care for burns patients at NUH.
Olivia said, “I guess that makes me quite unique, a burns patient becoming staff on the Burns unit. I am so proud of my daughter and seeing her get her friends involved too is fantastic.”
With the support of Nottingham High School and as part of a project for the girls’ Duke of Edinburgh award they have managed to produce over 30 surgical drain bags which officially presented to the City Hospital burns unit today.
Eithne Gallagher, ward manager for the Burns unit said, “I think it’s a really nice touch, a really personal touch for the patients and they will feel really pleased to have something personal and unique to use. The time the girls have invested in this is really special.”
Chloe Cavan was just 11 years old when she saw her mum being treated as a burns patient and she felt so inspired to do something to give back that she started learning to sew.
Chloe said, “I just wanted to help and after seeing my mum being a patient I just wanted to give back to help others.”
“It’s really good we that we finally finished the project, and we have lots of bags to donate and maybe we can inspire others to learn to sew and maybe make some too.”