Care company donates uniform to African hospitals

A WESTBURY based care company is donating its unwanted uniforms to a hospital in Zambia and medical centre in Kenya.

When Butterfly Home Help decided to refresh its  brand by changing colour schemes and the uniforms of their staff, it had no idea it would make a difference on the other side of the world.

As staff of the home care company puzzled over how best to make use of the redundant pile of 121 peach coloured uniforms, Operations Manager Michele Bodman had an idea.

She contacted Hilton Baker, a member of the Salvation Army and trustee of The Kenya Trust, to ask if his organisation would have any use for them.

Michele said, “It seemed such a pity to just get rid of the uniforms. I just felt there could be a way of using them elsewhere.”

Her action set in motion an exercise which will, this year, benefit both the Chikankata Mission Hospital in Zambia and a new medical centre in a remote part of Kenya.

“I have had the pleasure to work with people who need care and support since I was 16,” said Michele.

“My career has taken me across every avenue of the sector and country and I’m thrilled that my team and I have been able to help those doing the same thing in rural Kenya and Zambia.”

“Both organisations are really looking forward to supplementing their stock of uniforms,” said Hilton Baker, “but one of the main stumbling blocks in accepting donations of any kind is the cost of freight.”

To deal with this cost, Butterfly co-founder Anne Pelling donated the £200 needed to get the uniforms out to where they are needed. The uniforms will reach their destination next month.

The Butterfly team work across Wiltshire, Bath and Somerset and they deliver 1200 visits a week, offering personal care, home care, shopping and cooking. For further information visit www.butterflyhomehelp.com/home