Over the last year, we have had the pleasure of working alongside veteran and Band of Brother, Ben Skipper in multiple design products. Creativity, in the form of photography and design, has been a key outlet for Ben.

After the success of Ben's first design, we approached him once again to help create a beautiful print for our new scarf, the Watercolour Bloom scarf. 

In the current challenging times, we’re delighted that Ben’s inspirational scarf is bringing an air of positivity to Anne, Ben's wife and her colleagues at Boston Pilgrim Hospital's Occupational Therapy team, where Anne is an Occupational Therapist for United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust.

Anne says, “Many of my colleagues have family members who are in the forces or are veterans. The photo shows myself at the front, showing off Help for Heroes Scarf designed by Ben.  My fellow Occupational Therapist colleagues pictured, with the two metre social distancing, work on the medical wards at the Acute Hospital, and were more than happy to be a part of Help for Heroes photo shoot. Already several of my friends and colleagues have purchased the scarf in recognition of the amazing work the charity provides. We are all very proud to support Help for Heroes.”

As an Occupational Therapist based in an acute hospital setting, Anne is responsible for promoting safe discharge of patients from hospital. She says,“To get to that point we establish the needs of the individual via the use of person-centred assessments. These look at the individual, the environment they are living in and the daily living activities they need and want to do to facilitate recovery and to empower and promote the individual in achieving their recovery goal.”

During the current crisis, Anne has had to adapt her normal working practices. “Like all members of the NHS Family, it has changed how we approach tasks as professionals and as individuals.” She continues, “Some of us are working directly with COVID-19 patients and have the correct PPE to enable us to work safely in this challenging environment. As professionals we are trained and supported to deal with these situations, we also provide one another with mutual support. By supporting one another we have grown as a team and have found ourselves emotionally closer together.”

Tanya Ingleton, from Help for Heroes’ Trading team said “It’s wonderful to see that Anne’s NHS colleagues love Ben’s design as much as we do, and that it’s bringing some cheer at what is a challenging time for so many, and it’s great that she and her colleagues can benefit from accessing our Field Guide to Self-Care as well.”

During lockdown, Ben is taking the opportunity to indulge his creative passions in his home, saying “Thus far my creativity has extended to messing around with block printing and designing a font for uni. I also have a plan for fresco'ing the spaces above and around the door frames and hope to make these with a mix of painting and block work. Watch this space to see how that comes along!”