Proud to be from East London
Erkan grew up in the East End of London and is proud to be part of such a diverse and vibrant community. He also works at Newham Hospital as an assistant operations manager. This meant he saw first-hand the support that Barts Charity has offered to NHS staff during the pandemic.
“The pandemic has been hard, I’m not going to lie. To see everyone coming into work every day, putting their lives at risk to save others, it has been a very emotional experience. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t think about what our teams sacrificed for our community during that first wave.”
Erkan wears the badge
“I wear the badge to thank Barts Charity because of the support they gave our local NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.”Erkan, East London NHS worker
Proud to be from East London
“The support Barts Charity gave us during that time was vital. Not just for my department but all of the local NHS staff. The charity donated £7 million to help with our wellbeing. It was a very traumatic time and a lot of staff needed people to talk to. Barts Charity helped provide psychologists and wellbeing hubs – just so people can relax and clear their minds while so much is going on around them. I can’t thank them enough,” – Erkan.
Erkan wears his badge to show his support for Barts Charity and he encourages all East Londoners to show support for the local NHS heroes.
“When we all get behind our NHS – which is the best health service in the world – we can get so much more done and help people in so many more ways. So we should all wear the badge to show our support,” he added.
We’re proud to support NHS staff in East London. Since the pandemic, we’ve awarded £4.5m to projects supporting staff wellbeing at Barts Health NHS Trust. This support includes the establishment of the Psychological Support Service. This service provides dedicated psychologists for all staff working at a Barts Health hospital. Our funding has also gone towards wellbeing hubs at all five Barts Health hospitals. The hubs provide a place for staff to relax, unwind and catch up with colleagues.