Barry, Bella, and our Estates and Facilities

As COVID-19 outbreak became a reality, one of our existing volunteers, Barry, decided that he could and would do more to help us keep people in Berkshire safe and healthy.

As the outbreak spread it became clear that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was a national issue but, luckily for us, people and organisations across Berkshire came together to produce their own PPE and donated it to our services. Our question then was how do we distribute these donations, along with the government issued PPE, to make sure all our services were protected?

At this moment, Barry stepped up and, with the help of our Estates and Facilities team, started to organise the incoming PPE before loading up his car each day to drive across the county and make deliveries to our active hospitals and clinics.

Lee Rutland, our Site Services Co-ordinator for Wokingham, explained how:

“Barry has been a huge asset to the team whist he’s been with us. He is very dependable, reliable and willing to help with anything put his way. His help has not only been appreciated by our team, but he has also helped our Westcall team by distributing PPE to our testing sites.    

Barry told us: 

"I was already volunteering for West Berkshire Community Hospital with my therapy dog Bella when the lockdown started. So, when the call came for volunteer drivers it was an easy decision to make, to lend a hand and do whatever I could to help the NHS. I ended up delivering PPE equipment from Wokingham hospital to other sites in West Berkshire and the testing stations at Ascot and Reading university. I’ve met some lovely people over the past few weeks and have been glad that I have been able to make my small contribution in an effort to help out as and when required."

Watch his and Bella's video