Welcome to PICC Pals!

ABOUT US

Charity Number 1212233

PICCPals is a 100% voluntary organisation which was awarded charity status in February 2025. Every person involved in PICCPals- from sewists to packers, drivers to branding experts and the leadership team- all give their time freely! What makes these volunteers even more special is that the vast majority of the volunteers never see any of the people they help - they are just putting their love out into the world in order to make it a better place. What’s more, they raise all their own funds to make this happen either through fundraising events, grant applications, partnerships and donations. What a team!

PICCPals was established in the second national lockdown in January 2021, when our friends in the cancer community found themselves battling chemotherapy isolated in their own homes. Many of us are, or have been cancer patients - so we very much understand just how brutal this feels.  So, in an attempt to let our friends know that we were thinking of them - we made them covers for their PICC lines so they could feel our love and stay safe when we couldn’t be there in person. Then came the lightbulb moment! There are so many people across the UK in this situation - why don’t we try to spread this further? And so PICCPals was born.

That was way back in 2021, when just seven sewists and helpers hung sanitised bags of fabric on front doors, made all arrangements on messaging systems and worked in isolation. The community and organisation has grown hugely since the early days and continues to grow and develop every month. We now have over 60 volunteers, several community sewing hubs, school projects that allow teenagers to learn about life with a PICC line and make them for other teenagers and a vast network of supporters and champions. All of this happens in the Southend area of Essex, yet the covers go to hospitals and patients the length and breadth of the UK.

The patients we serve have also grown massively. From our initial remit of helping cancer patients, we have now learned that these covers help support patients with a huge range of conditions: cystic fibrosis, blood disorders, dialysis patients, diabetes- the list could go on and on. We also now make specific ranges to suit all genders, ages and sizes, as well as doing special ranges at Christmas and patient's special occasions. 

We also care deeply about our carbon footprint and, where possible, use recycled materials to pack and send our covers out, as well as forming partnerships to ensure that once the patient has finished using their covers, they can be repurposed.

The community we serve and have built gives all involved an enormous sense of pride. Our volunteers are now good friends and provide each other with a beautiful support network - we consider ourselves to be more like a tribe than a group. 

If you are interested in helping, supporting, booking us for presentations, donating or just want to know more about what we do - please get in touch using the contact details below.