Brindle grandmother scrubs up with festive gift for children's hospice

Pat with Derian House staff in their new festive scrubs

Grandmother Pat Fleming created the scrubs for every member of staff at Derian House in Chorley.

Kind-hearted Pat ran up more than 60 scrubs in a range of festive fabrics to ensure that children spending the Christmas period in the hospice could get into the spirit.

After seeing an appeal for help on the charity’s Facebook page, Pat, of Brindle, Chorley, sprang into action.

The 73-year-old spent a day ringing around major supermarkets and managed to get Asda, Aldi and Dunelm Mill to donate Christmas-themed duvet sets which she then cut out into patterns.

She persuaded Hobbycraft to donate other materials and then set about recruiting a band of sewing elves to help her!

After putting an advert in her local church news sheet, Pat was over-run with offers of help from the ladies at Brindle village church.

The army of Christmas elves spent a fortnight cutting patterns and running up the garments in various sizes – enough for every member of staff to have one to wear and one in the wash!

It was a poignant way of giving back to the charity for Pat, whose son Timothy was one of the first children to come to Derian House when it opened in 1993.

She and husband Bernard have been keen supporters of Derian House ever since, volunteering at events and active members of the Derian Voices choir.

Pat said: “Our son Timothy was one of the first children to come to the hospice when it first opened.

"He was 10-years-old when he came and before that we’d been using a children’s hospice in Yorkshire which was a three-and-a-half-hour drive away.

“When Tim was alive I would sew lots of bits and pieces such as tabards for staff and bibs for the children, and I just carried on.

"When I saw the appeal on Facebook I knew it was something I could do and I just got going. It’s my way of helping.

“I couldn’t have done it on my own though and I’d like to thank Sally, Pauline, Carolin, Sarah and Sue for their help, as well as the countless others who offered to help.”

During the COVID pandemic, Pat has also sewn scrubs for local hospitals and made more than 200 face masks.

Caroline Taylor, communications and marketing manager at Derian House Children’s Hospice, said: “Pat’s Christmas scrubs have gone down a treat with the staff at Derian House – they have really added some festive cheer during a difficult time and we are so thankful to her. It has definitely helped spread a little Christmas magic and put some smiles on our children’s faces.

“Pat and Bernard are among our most loyal volunteers at Derian House and we are so appreciative of all the effort they put into helping make sure our fundraising events are a success and generally being part of the Derian family.”