Y4 pupil sends out messages of support

Though she and her family may be staying safe in their home, nine year old Ava Gerrard was conscious that those people charged with caring for others were going out every day to help those in need and wanted to do something to say thank you.

For the last few weeks Prep pupil Ava has been using her spare time to make cards for all the NHS workers they know and sending each of them a special message of support and, for those on the frontline who are currently working in extremely difficult and potentially hazardous conditions, these thoughtful tokens of appreciation make all the difference.

Having received such a gift, Mrs Suter, a nurse on a COVID-19 ward in Wigan, felt moved to respond:

“Dear Ava,

I know it’s kind of funny to get a thank you for a thank you card – but I wanted to tell you how much we all appreciated your beautiful card! I brought it to work on my last shift and it’s now on the desk on the ward so everyone can see it. One of the nurses wondered if we could put it in our glass display cabinet just inside the door of the ward. The doctor in the photo was very impressed with your drawing and colouring and the amazing detail in it. I thought your handwriting was wonderful.

Can I let you in on a little secret? Not many people know this but all of us working in hospitals get so much pleasure from looking after people who are poorly and seeing them get better. And we get to meet so many beautiful people like you and your lovely family – which always makes it interesting too.

But these days work is quite hard. Having to dress up in all that sweaty PPE before we go in to see any of our patients means we cannot do anything quickly. Some of our patients find it difficult to understand us when we are wearing masks and some very old people who are very poorly find it confusing to have nurses and doctors dressed up in spacesuits tending to them! So these days our work is less fun and a lot harder and so we really do appreciate that you and lovely people like you appreciate us.

I hope you are enjoying being at home and not missing school too much! Say a big hello to your lovely mother.

Best wishes, Mrs Suter.”

Ava’s mum Jo, who is part of the Bridgewater teaching team and whose own mother has worked at Salford Royal Hospital for over forty years, is hugely supportive of her daughter’s community spirit and together they are sourcing material to create even more items as part of the school’s initiative to support key workers and residents of local care homes.