To mark and commemorate the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on 12th May 2020, the Facebook group, Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate have launched a new appeal to raise money to cover the NMC registration fees of 200 newly qualified midwives and nurses.
Florence Nightingale, referred to as “The Lady with the Lamp” changed the perception of nurses during a time where wealthy women were expected to find a good husband and raise a family. Florence Nightingale led a team of nurses in a women’s hospital and created a new respect for women and nurses.
Gareth Grant, co-founder of the Facebook Group, Supplies for Key workers commented “during the current pandemic, the perception of our nurses has changed again. People have found a new respect for the NHS and are showing their appreciation by Clapping for the NHS on Thursday nights. We wanted to take this a step further and ease the burden of the registration fees for newly qualified nurses and midwives to show our appreciation.
Florence Nightingale educated America’s first trained nurse, Linda Richards, and that is why we have focussed our fund raising to nurses and midwives who are still in education or due to complete their learning shortly”.
Fiona Ryan, also co-founder of the group said:
The current cost for registration fees for a student midwife or nurse is £120 (The Nursing and Midwifery Council). Our initial aim is to support and fund 200 newly qualified nurses and midwives. In a time where their skills are so desperately needed, we want to support them as much as we can. Our aim is to raise at least £24,000 to support 200 nurses.
The Florence Nightingale Project will launch on the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightgale’s birth date, 12 May 2020.
The Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate group was set up by Julie Mills, Fiona Ryan, Gareth Grant and Hayley Gregg on the 20th March 2020 to support the local key workers with food, household items, laundry bags and essentials for helping key workers to manage the current situation.
To support the campaign, donations can be made via justgiving here: The Florence Nightingale Project – JustGiving
