As part of National Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2021) a team of Royal Holloway students packed over 140 care packages for local NHS staff at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Chertsey.

NHS care packages with team leader, Dan

Each care package included; a message of thanks, a packet of sweets, soap, hand cream, a travel mug, tea bags, biscuits and a Royal Holloway branded water pouch.

‘Supporting our NHS’ ran between March and May 2021 and was set up by students as a way of thanking local NHS workers for all their hard work and dedication throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign was fully funded by staff and students at Royal Holloway who use the ‘Royal Holloway Moves’ app - an app designed to convert individual daily step counts into points.

Once app users reach enough points, they can either redeem discounts on campus, or they can donate their points to a social action project at Royal Holloway – turning the points in to monetary value. 

Due to the generosity of students and staff donating their points via the app, the Love your Community project, who ran the campaign, raised over £905. The students were able to put this money towards the items in the care packages for NHS workers.

Dan Phillips, Team Leader for the Love Your Community project and first-year Law and Criminology student, said: “The Supporting our NHS campaign was an incredible success thanks to the support of students and staff at Royal Holloway. Raising such a substantial amount from an activity app shows tremendous community spirit and I hope the care packages bring smiles to NHS workers who have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic.”

Heather Bixley, Staff Engagement Officer at Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The departments that received the care packages are not ones that everyone thinks of. A&E are constantly on the frontline dealing with the public 24 hours a day. They are treating and caring for sick and injured members of the public. AMU work tirelessly to get patients assessed and either discharged or found a bed on a ward.  Finally, Oak and Ash wards are both children's wards that had to move quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic last year and still continue to function as wards with seamless care. All are well deserved and our staff are hugely grateful to receive Royal Holloway's very generous packages."

Phil Simcock, Volunteering Manager at Royal Holloway, concluded: “We are very proud of how our students have stepped forward in numerous ways to support their local communities over the past year. This particular initiative highlights their dedication and passion to put in the hard work to show how much Royal Holloway value the NHS frontline workers.”