Coronavirus Indian Appeal

In May, our Unison branch decided to donate £10,000 to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) for the Coronavirus Appeal in India. The DEC consists of 14 UK charities that take a lead in global disasters. India has faced the biggest coronavirus crisis in the world. There have been 350,000 coronavirus deaths in India but this figure according to many experts must be much higher.  We have all seen the very distressing images from India on television of bodies being burned in car parks, hospitals unable to accept more coronavirus patients and desperate relatives incredibly frustrated that oxygen cannot be found to treat their relatives. 

Our branch feels that in the UK we have benefitted from the migration of workers from the Indian subcontinent that started in the late 1940s and 1950s. We have not just benefitted from the skills and expertise of these workers in the NHS, but we have also benefitted from their cultural and societal influences. They are part of the fabric of our society. They are our colleagues, friends and neighbours. We also feel that without the contribution of health workers from the Indian subcontinent we would not have had the NHS today as we know it. We have all been looked after by doctors and nurses that have Indian or Pakistani descent.

We feel this donation is a relatively small price to pay to help people that have given the UK so much – people who have contributed to the NHS and the society that we live in. Our donation will help support India’s healthcare system by providing PPE and vital equipment such as hand gels and soap. It will also go towards providing food to stop people going hungry and prevent children from suffering from malnutrition. 

Author – Matthew Hampson, Branch Environmental Officer