Your Generosity Goes Radioactive!

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, we at Valley Church have been looking for ways to bless people from a safe distance, especially those for whom the lock down has meant an increase of activity. The fantastic mixture of people in our church community has meant that we have been able to identify needs and get useful gifts, like drinks, deodorants, snacks and now basic PPE (see our previous post), to people who are working on the frontline in our local area.

Doug Heke has worked in radiology departments for 12 years. Usually his department at Royal Preston Hospital would cover a variety of scenarios, from seeing injured people as they arrived in A&E, to working with long-term patients with chest conditions, through to assisting in surgical procedures. To do all of this, they are on shift work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. For the last few weeks however, many of those patients, especially routine fracture follow ups and those with vulnerable conditions, have been sourced to other areas. Doug and his team are now primarily dealing with emergency injuries and those patients who are being tested and treated for Covid-19.

The radiology department has always been an essential link in the chain for many different conditions that need treatment, and now they have found themselves on the frontline of the unexpected Coronavirus pandemic. This has presented many new challenges for the team, especially that of trying to protect themselves and the other patients from any further spread of the disease. As well as the usual heavy lead gowns that protect themselves, they need to wear PPE over all of that, to protect everyone they see. This can be quite daunting for a young child who has to come into the department to get a sore wrist checked out – luckily Doug’s cheeky sense of humour isn’t restricted by a paper mask!

We wanted to let this team know that their incredible work that they are doing is seen and appreciated so we used some of the money you have sent  to bless them. Along with a card of thanks, we sent in a variety of snacks, drinks and, thanks to the many layers they now need to wear, much needed deodorant!

The team were blown away by the generosity from a local church community that many of them hadn’t even heard of. They felt like their contribution to the current global crisis was being recognised by people outside of their department who had taken the time to let them know. This small act of kindness gave the department a real boost at a much-needed time.

We would love to continue to bless other key workers in creative ways, so please keep sending in your contributions through the Valley Church People Matter COVID-19 response fund: https://www.give.net/Peoplematter/oneoff

And if you are a key worker, please know that we are cheering you on, you are seen and appreciated, and we think you are doing an incredible job!