The charity that supports Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been working alongside volunteers to improve staff wellbeing across 10 hospital and 60 community sites. 

Focussed on the ‘added extras’ they could provide staff, Bright Charity has been issuing wellbeing boxes to all workers in the Trust. They contain cleaning products for scrubs, wellbeing advice, toiletries, snacks, and quick meals. In addition, a ‘mini-market’ has helped staff purchase basic food items without having to queue at supermarkets after busy shifts. The charity has been subsidising bags of fresh fruit and vegetables so staff can quickly buy a bag of fresh ingredients for their family at a low cost. 

Bright Charity has also been working alongside the Deaf Awareness Coordinator to provide solutions to communication challenges caused by the use of face masks. This is because for many deaf and hearing-impaired patients and staff, the use of the masks can cause additional anxiety and stress. Tablet computers and smartphones have been helping while teams work on longer term solutions to alleviate this problem.

Thanks to generous donations, Bright Charity has also been able to provide a number of other extras to help boost morale. These include laundry bags, emergency welfare packs, iPads for patient communication and indoor and outdoor oasis spaces away from the wards.  Furthermore, staff have been able to show solidarity throughout the Covid-19 crisis by wearing t-shirts with the slogan ‘Keeping the NHS Running’ created in partnership with the Health and Wellbeing Team.