Alumna Makes Scrubs for the NHS - Croydon High School · Alumna Makes Scrubs for the NHS Georgie...
Transcript of Alumna Makes Scrubs for the NHS - Croydon High School · Alumna Makes Scrubs for the NHS Georgie...
E V E RY G I R L - E V E RY DAY 7 May 2020
Alumna Makes Scrubs for the NHS
Georgie Syms left Croydon High in 2013 and
gained a First Class Honours Bachelor's degree
in Fashion Atelier at the University for the
Creative Arts. She interned at Cad & The Dandy
in Savile Row and has been a Bespoke Coat
Maker for Sartoria Trenti since 2017. Last year
Georgia co-founded Syms & Fauri, a London-
based bespoke tailoring establishment for
women, where she is also Head of Design.
Here is what Georgie had to say about her
experience making scrubs for the NHS during
the coronavirus crisis:
“Running Syms & Fauri, a bespoke tailoring
service dependent on direct contact with the
customer, means I have not been able to work
from home in any meaningful way. It was a
great relief and, of course, an honour when I was approached to make scrubs for ‘For the Love
of Scrubs’. Not only did it give me the opportunity to use my sewing skills to help the brave
staff on the NHS front line, it also gave me the opportunity to do the thing I loved and missed.
For the Love of Scrubs was born out of a close collaboration between three individuals who
wanted to use the rich talent of the London tailoring community to answer the desperate need
for quality gowns and other PPE. The highly infectious nature of the Covid-19 virus has meant
that the ordinary cycle of clean scrubs had to be vastly increased in order to prevent the
infection spreading. Currently, there is a vast shortage of scrubs. Unable to get necessary
provisions from the government, hospitals have taken to individually contacting community
organisations and independent tailors to request assistance.
For the Love of Scrubs is an entirely organic organisation, not supported by the government in
any way. The work is a direct collaboration between the hospitals and tailoring community,
made up of freelance tailors, dressmakers, couturiers, and seamstresses who are volunteering
their time to support this initiative. Many of these individuals – such as myself – are currently
unable to claim or receive any financial support from the government for our own businesses,
due to gaps and flaws in the system.
Also assisting are the families, partners, and other individuals inside and outside the industry,
who have been using their personal cars and motorbikes to courier orders from cutter to maker
to hospital, ensuring our community is kept as safe as possible. Similarly, all fabric and
trimmings are either being generously donated by mills and haberdasheries up and down the
country through money raised on crowdfunding pages, or by volunteers purchasing their own
cloth and thread.
Despite the various challenges, it is great to see the tailoring community coming together in
these hard times to help such a vital cause. As the oncoming economic climate looks set to be
very turbulent, the most important thing to focus on at this time is supporting the essential
work required to get through this crisis in any way we can.”
Georgie is also giving her time to run university-style seminars as part of the GDST Limitless
Learning Programme for Upper Sixth pupils. We are very grateful for all her input!
7 May 2020