Shona raises over £15,000 for NHS care packs during the Coronavirus response

Since coronavirus hit, Sellafield Ltd employee Shona Cunningham has been working tirelessly to raise funds for NHS and care services in West Cumbria.

In just over a month, she has managed to raise more than £15,000.

Shona was quick to volunteer, and recognised the importance of community efforts to support those working to protect our lives.

Shona said:

After seeing and hearing about the pressures on our services at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak I knew I had to do something to try and help the workers on the frontline.

To do her bit, Shona has been raising money for care packs for the NHS and care workers across Cumbria. The packages include items such as chocolate, cereal bars, porridge pots, crisps and energy drinks. Others included toiletry products to support employees who are not staying in their own homes due to Coronavirus.

Fundraising activities have included live social media workouts, street bingo and bike rides.

In addition, Layla-May Finley who lives in Thornhill has been making rainbow door bows and has raised an amazing £7,000 which she has also donated to Shona’s fundraiser.

What started as an office collection has grown exponentially. Since Shona started the JustGiving page she has raised thousands to support the key workers.

Support has come from countless organisations and individuals including OneAIM, PCR Richardson and Unite.

To date well over 1,000 meals. 400 care parcels and lots of other items have been delivered to over 100 places in the county for our frontline workers by Shona and her small team of helpers.

In the future, funds will also be used to pay for nurses £120 registration fees. The level of gratitude Shona has received has been astounding.

North West Ambulance Service Cumbria tweeted:

Shona Cunningham dropped all of these goodies off for us tonight after taking it upon herself to arrange a collection in her office at Sellafield. From the money collected she has made hampers for all local services facing this fight, we are so grateful.

West Cumberland Hospital messaged and said:

Thank you so much from us all at A&E, the support from you all is amazing and much appreciated at this difficult time.

She said:

These workers are facing some of their most challenging shifts, so I thought I could put together some care packages to help make their shifts a little bit easier. It is a small gesture to show they’re appreciated and we’re all grateful for everything they do.

I originally had a target of £500, the level of support I’ve received has been amazing.

If you are considering helping out in the community, go for it. Being told that someone appreciates what you have done and that is making a difference to their day to day lives is so rewarding.

Shona works as part of the Business Management team within Project Delivery which is led by Neil Crewdson. He said:

Shona saw this as an opportunity to help our NHS and carers in the community before Sellafield Ltd formally asked for support from our employees, which shows the kind of person she is. She always goes above and beyond and will help anyone if she is able to.

I’m incredibly proud of Shona and all of our community volunteers for everything that they are doing to support local key workers. We all need to come together in times like this and these efforts are making a real difference for so many people.