Scrubs for Heroes

Gino Ruffinato, a friend of Bewdley Rotary and a regular supporter of our fund raising events, is a Director of MG Sportswear in the Horsefair, Kidderminster. MG usually manufactures uniforms for schools, sports teams and airlines, but was forced to halt production and furlough staff when orders stopped coming in due to the covid-19 crisis.

In March 2020 MG were approached to make scrubs for the nursing staff of several local hospitals including a department of nurses from a local hospital who were willing to pay from their own pockets to enable them to have enough scrubs to change regularly between shifts. Gino thought it was outrageous that these front line workers should have to give financially, as well as risking their lives every day, to protect and preserve us all against the virus.

MG have the machinery to manufacture but, unfortunately, like so many small businesses at this time, did not have the finances to purchase the fabrics required. After receiving a donation of £1000 from The Old Waggon and Horses in Bewdley, which was used to purchase fabric and with the furloughed staff, working without salary, MG started to manufacture scrubs for Russell's Hall, Worcester, New Cross, Kidderminster, Redditch hospitals and some local nursing homes.

MG are not charging for the scrubs, they simply want to help. They had orders at the time for around 6,000 sets of scrubs and appealed for funding for materials through a Crowdfunding website.

As this is a local company, one of whose Directors supports our fundraising activities, who needed help to support our frontline workers, Bewdley Rotary made a generous contribution direct to MG Sportswear, so as to avoid commission fees which would be incurred through the Crowdfunding website. The Rotary Club of Clent Hills also made a generous donation.