As the fourth week of lockdown drags on, residents have been putting their time to good use across the district.
St Albans-based online boutique Bee-utiful Creations by Bee, run by mum of two Bharti Lin, has been fundraising for protective visors used by healthcare professionals.
She initially created Rainbow of Hope t-shirts to finance her efforts in producing a handful of visors, but the initiative spiralled, and she has now raised around £3,000 after selling hundreds of the garments.
Two-thirds of these funds will go towards the national Visor Army, a community-based volunteer group making visors at home for use by ICU doctors and nurses in London hospitals.
The remainder will finance the production of visors to be used locally by care homes, GPs, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
She explained: “I started the Rainbow of Hope t-shirts because my super nan of 105 years of age sadly passed away from this awful virus. I expected to sell a handful of t-shirts but the response has been amazing.”
Alastair Flowers, of West Hyde Road, Harpenden, took part in a backyard 50km fundraiser, running a 70m loop of his yard for almost six hours to raise almost £1,000 for independent emergency medical aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières.
He said: “I decided to stay entirely within my backyard to show others it’s possible to do a lot whilst staying in quarantine and isolation.”
Anthony Drexler, who runs Wednesday night pub quizzes in the King William pub in St Albans, has been hosting various online events, raising more than £2,700 for the NHS.
Pupils at Bowmansgreen Primary School created a collage of photos so they could send a positive message to their friends and teachers.
Local resident Peter Aubusson and his partner Jacqui Dixon were inspired to run, walk or jog a route that depicted the NHS logo. The pair worked out a simple 5K route from Riverside Road to St Albans Girls High School on Townsend Road and walked it as their daily exercise.
Jacqui said: “We are proud to celebrate the wonderful work of the NHS throughout this pandemic.”
What are you doing during the lockdown? Let us know by emailing hertsad@archant.co.uk
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