A team of frontline health workers from Glasgow Royal Infirmary have walked hundreds of miles to raise more than £5,000 for the city’s Marie Curie Hospice.
No less than 54 nurses and health care support workers from the hospital’s Acute Assessment Unit have spent the winter looking after COVID patients, but despite putting in some hard shifts, they committed to raising the much-needed funds for the cancer charity. Marie Curie’s Step into Spring Campaign challenged fundraisers to walk 10,000 steps a day, or more, over the course of a month.
The distance the team walked was the equivalent of walking to the Falkland Islands!
Tracy Biggar, a healthcare support worker at the AAU, said: “We’ve all been working so hard since the start of the pandemic and we knew that fundraising for charities has been hit hard. The team have received a lot of generosity over the last year and we wanted to give something back.
“It’s been a hard winter we have felt the effects of the lockdown and not seeing our family and friends. We thought that this could also raise morale within the team and give us a little spring in our step each day too.”
The team put their heart, soul and walking shoes to good use and the total raised is an impressive £5,188 for the hospice based at Stobhill Hospital. But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Tracy added: “We’re on our feet all day during a shift and I’m not going to lie, getting to 10,000 steps after coming off a nightshift, knowing you had to get up and walk to hit the target was never easy!”
Tracy says that the effort has helped to bring the team together. She said: “On shift we found a camaraderie where we would offer to do each other’s jobs to steal the steps, this has helped us just as much as we know the money will help Marie Curie. This has given us an incentive to keep active and look for another challenge later on in the year.
“The Marie Curie Hospice in Glasgow and the team do an incredible job in helping patients and families and we all know just how tough it’s been during lockdown. We’re just pleased that our efforts will help them to continue their incredible work.”
Irene Johnstone, Head of Operations for Marie Curie in Scotland congratulated the team on their efforts. She said: “We are so grateful that the team from the AAU unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary took part in our Step into Spring Challenge, especially at a time when health services are so busy across the UK.
“This funding will help us to continue to provide end of life care and support to dying people, and their families, at such a vital time.”