Jo was exhausted after another long shift in her paediatric intensive care department (which is now an intensive care unit for adult patients with COVID-19). She mentioned to Jeremy how desperately in need her team was of protective clothing. Jeremy immediately picked up the phone to Ian Mattioli, co-founder and CEO at Mattioli Woods.
Ian and his family set up the Mattioli Foundation to support good causes and opened this up to the staff at Mattioli Woods to provide support through donation or loans during this period where many are struggling.
The trustees were immediately supportive of Jeremy’s request and donated £3k to buy the necessary clothing. The team at Mattioli Woods then went one step further – they researched where they could purchase the clothing, ordered it and delivered it to the hospital within 48 hours of the initial request.
Jo Ennis said, ‘We were struggling to source safe scrubs for our medical staff to wear in our ICU wards. The NHS approved suppliers were all out of stock. This equipment is vital in protecting front line staff and keeping them as safe as possible. Just two days after contacting Mattioli Woods, we had our new scrubs. Assistance like this is amazing and massively appreciated by us all in the NHS. It’s acts like this that really show us that the whole community is supporting us in any way they can.’
Jeremy said, ‘When Jo mentioned some of the issues they were experiencing at work, I knew I had to try to help. Jo and her colleagues are putting themselves in danger every day and all I had done to date was simply stay at home. When I contacted Ian I thought he may be able to provide something to help but never expected the reaction I got. Once I’d told him about the lack of available equipment, without questioning he immediately offered to arrange supply of everything and even organised sourcing the equipment. Within 10 minutes of speaking to Ian, Belinda Newson, our Estates and Fleet Manager, had arranged delivery for the very next day ready for the night shift team to use immediately!
‘I’m proud of Jo, for what she does every day and am glad that the Mattioli Foundation has made it possible for me to feel I’ve played a part, albeit a small part, in helping Jo and her colleagues.’
Ian Mattioli said, ‘These are scary times for so very many people, so where we have the ability to help, we will. Along with the rest of the country I have been making as much noise as possible at 8pm on a Thursday to applaud our NHS and people like Jo and her team. I am delighted that the Foundation and my colleagues at Mattioli Woods got this done – and quickly!
