Altnagelvin healthcare workers host bake sale for Medical Aid for Palestine

A bake sale organised by the Altnagelvin-based North West Healthcare Workers for Palestine (NWHWP) has raised £2,657 for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

MAP provides vital supplies, medicines and humanitarian aid to the occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon.

Speaking to The Derry News, delighted co-organiser, Sinead Hughes, a physiotherapist in the hospital, explained NWHWP comprised workers across all disciplinaries within the [Western Health and Social Care] Trust.

“We first officially met in person about a month ago and we thought a bake sale would be a good start,” she said.

Organisers of Medical Aid for Palestine bake sale in Altnagelvin.

“Our mission is to stand in solidarity with Palestinian healthcare workers and their communities. We are just advocating for a world where Palestinians have access to quality healthcare and the right to a dignified life.

“As healthcare workers ourselves, we thought it would be very fitting to have an event in a hospital, so we decided to get together and arrange a bake sale.

“We did that and we had lots of fantastic donations from local companies, including: Grandes, Offing, Rosta coffee bar, Funky Cakes, The Cottage in the Craft Village, The Leprechaun, McDaid’s Bakery, Rustic Café in the Bogside, Gimme Goodies, Cakes by Rachel Mc Nulty, and Lisa Storey. Other people also baked and our family members baked. We can’t thank everyone enough.

“We decided MAP was a very fitting cause because it is a charity providing vital medical assistance to civilians in these crisis zones.

“We set up a bake sale and let people on the ground know and we were queued out the door. It was amazing. So many people came along, we ran out of stuff. We were hoping to keep it open until 12.30pm but we had to shut just after 11.00am. That was a wee bit disappointing for people coming down later but they were still giving us donations,” said Sarah.

“Everyone was just pleased to have been given the opportunity to support such a vital cause,” she added.

“We were just so delighted with ourselves and delighted we were able to bring the issue of Palestine to the forefront as well, in a hospital. We had people from every department. We had senior management down. It was really good.

“Departments throughout Altnagelvin have run similar events for local charities like the Foyle Hospice and Macmillan.

“We just thought, a bake sale is something that has been done before. We are having a meeting in the next fortnight and would love to do something similar out in the community,” said Sinead.

“It’s not just about the money,” she added, “it’s about bringing the Palestinian struggle to the forefront and encouraging people to talk about it.

“It is just awful and it should not be allowed to happen in this day and age. The atrocities that those poor people are having to live through, you couldn’t think about it for too long, it would set you mad.

“Part of us advocating for healthcare workers in Palestine is that the British Medical Association (BMA) has passed a motion condemning the targeting of healthcare facilities.

“The BMA framed this as a humanitarian issue and obviously recognised the duty of healthcare workers to advocate for Palestinians, which is all central to our advocacy goal.

“It is talking about what’s going on in Gaza, raising awareness because the mainstream media is not doing its job, in fact, it is doing an atrocious job which is heartbreaking really.”

ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW

Altnagelvin healthcare workers host bake sale for Medical Aid for Palestine

Tags: