DCI leads mission to help nurses

14 May 2020

West Midlands Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Pearson has enlisted the support of fellow Soroptimists to bring a smile to nurses working on the front-line of the area’s battle against COVID-19.

Soroptimist International is a global volunteer movement which aims to improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally. There are almost 80,000 members in 124 countries.

Jenny is president of the Lichfield and District branch of the organisation and has been delighted with the support she has received during a busy and testing time playing her part in the fight against coronavirus.

Back in March, Jenny was given the role of bringing emergency service partners together to build a facility where the deceased could be kept and that quickly became the Birmingham and Coventry Mortuary.

She was soon in contact with all hospitals in the region on a regular basis to know how many bodies would need to be stored.

While working closely with hospitals across the Birmingham and Warwickshire area, Jenny heard how nurses were struggling to wash and keep clean, so she decided to enlist her fellow soroptimists to lend a helping hand.

“I have been working very hard with Dr Dawn Chaplin across the Birmingham and Warwickshire area and I asked her if there is anything we could do to help. She told me that nurses were struggling to wash their work clothes,” said Jenny.

“When something like this comes along, I can tune in to the national group of soroptimists for help so I put a message out for ideas and have been inundated with help.

“We have produced empty pump bags so nurses can take their clothes off after work and put the whole thing in the washing machine. I am pleased to say they were very well received. We are now widening the circulation to police officers.”

Jenny has been doing drop-offs at places like Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham – where her sister-in-law Sister Alison Malins works.

“I have had members of the military working with me day-to-day too and that is why there are members of the Army, Navy and RAF in the picture (with Dawn) that was featured on the Force’s Twitter feed.

“Some Soroptimists in Hampshire have been putting together luxury item bags for nurses too including things like face masks and hand cream, so I have put the word out for donations so we can try to do some too.

“It’s something nice to do rather than focussing on all of the doom and gloom.”

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