Miss Dawson (Biology Teacher and CAS & Service Coordinator)

We have been overwhelmed by the response of the BGS community in support of the NHS Pamper Bag initiative. Thank you to all of those who have made drawstrings bags and filled them with lovely toiletries. We have been inundated with toiletries, and have been able to fill just under 100 bags with bath bombs, hand creams and face masks, as well as candles, herbal tea bags, chocolates and handmade friendship bracelets. The community initiative was launched by Shannon-Rose Scanlon (Year 9) and her mum to say thank you to our amazing NHS workers in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes hospitals. Mrs Scanlon and Shannon-Rose were interviewed this week on Heart Radio, watch their interview here.

We also organised a poetry competition asking for poems about giving thanks, positivity and looking forward, which would also be included in the bags. There were so many superb entries, and it was very difficult to create the short list of six poems from Lara Aellen (Year 8), Ishani Patel (Year 10), Harriet Jones (Lower Sixth), Leyla Nurettin (Year 9), Serena Jacob (Year 8) and Rebecca Turner (Year 10). These were judged by Orla Moore, Senior Broadcast Journalist at the BBC. She was very impressed with the standard of poems and their emotive nature. She selected Rebecca’s poem Saviour in the Ward describing it as ‘very poignant’ and saying that ‘every person who receives the pamper bag will relate to her words’.

The bags were dropped at Bedford Hospital this morning and we hope that the frontline staff enjoy the content. Thank you, NHS!

You can view other poem entries @BGSServiceTeam here.