Village donates medical supplies to Africa

ExtraCare’s Hughenden Gardens Village has donated much-needed medical supplies to Africa.

ExtraCare’s Hughenden Gardens Village came together to donate unused medical supplies to some of Ghana’s most vulnerable. Items included stoma bags, catheters, catheter irrigation equipment, incontinence pads, and wipes. The parcel arrived in Africa this week. Supplies were sent to stroke survivors and will be heading to Effiduase Government Hospital, and Kwadoso SDA Hospital in Ghana.

The village received a thank you from the medical team and patients. The group in High Wycombe decided to help when the family of a resident asked what they should do with unused leftover medical supplies. Winifred a live-in carer for one of residents advised that the products would be well used in Ghana and reached out to a contact to find out where to send the donation.

The venture was a joint effort between staff and residents. All residents were contacted asking if they had supplies to donate and staff put together ideas on how to raise money for the shipping. Settling on the idea to sell 90 raffle ticket numbers at £2 each the winning number was called out at bingo and the winner received £90 with the remaining £90 going towards the shipment.

The aim of donating was not only to reduce waste but to benefit some of the most deprived people in Africa where many are desperately short of medical resources. The products reached one man in Ghana who had suffered a stroke, his son sent a moving video reply to the village stating: “Thank you so much for this, this will help a great deal, God bless you all”.

Sheila Connolly, Wellbeing Advisor at Hughenden Gardens commented: “We are a large community, and this is proof of how collectively, getting together and supporting people in need we can make a difference. People are very generous and giving and at ExtraCare we have a wonderful platform to encourage communities to get together and do something great”.