PICC Pal Volunteers

Zöe is our Vice Chair, Creative Director, Website Designer, Social Media guru and Queen Sewing Bee!  For many years she was a Senior school Textiles teacher, part of a Senior Leadership Team and Head of Teacher Training, so she's used to juggling more than one role!  After retiring from the school environment her teaching didn't stop there but changed to adults and she now teaches three times a week at Kayes Textiles, working with beginners to more experienced sewists to help improve their knowledge and skills.  

Zöe continues to create garments from scratch (mainly anything made out of denim and dungarees!) she also has her own alteration business (specialising in jeans surgery) and keeps her hand in construction work by supporting FORM a local business specialising in Latin and Ballroom dresses.

Zöe has been involved in PICCPals from day one.  Having run a small, local scrub hub during Covid she realised how good it was to use her sewing and textile expertise to benefit others and she was keen to continue to help others to get the buzz from volunteering. "It sounds cheesy but I feel so privileged to work alongside Nikki with this group of incredible individuals.  It brings me so much joy to know that using and sharing our skills, we are bringing comfort to people going through some pretty scary treatments"

Cheryl is our Secretary and one of our founding members & key fund raisers.  Cheryl is an  expert sewist, having worked extensively for tailors in Savile Row.  She started to use her sewing skills to support the NHS making laundry bags and scrubs during lockdown with other members of the Southend Dance Centre.  Cheryl continued to be involved as the work evolved into PICCPals - a simple, but genius idea from our fabulous founder Nikki Mac .  

“Knowing Nikki’s story I readily agreed to this new project. At the start it was all home cutting and sewing and we relied on fabric donations - some of which I would have readily thrown in the bin!  The early days were a steep learning curve but messages through WhatsApp got us through and I’m happy to say built a great sense of camaraderie which remains three years on.  I stay involved because sewing is easy for me and if I can help with someone’s journey through the not-so-easy times I will stay involved 

I think the success of the group is a great tribute to Nikki and the small band who were in at the start. All who have joined since share the same ethos of expanding our hearts with benevolence, by offering our time as well as our ability to help others and I am proud to call myself a PICCPal.”

Marguerite is our Treasurer and one of our founding members.  Marguerite doesn't sew but is excellent with the purse strings, having worked in accounts for most of her working career.

“Having known Nikki for years, when she set up the organisation I guess I was her obvious choice to look after the accounting and I felt honoured that she asked me to be involved. My role is to produce the accounts and look after the banking side of things” 

“I love the notion of creating something which is such a simple thing, but so very useful to the recipient, plus we are reaching out to people when they are in need of some comfort and love. I think PICCPals is such a good cause and the camaraderie amongst all of the members of the group is great to be a part of” 

Nicky is one of our trustees and our designated safeguarding officer. She is also part of Agora 4 Great Wakering group which is a service club and part of the Round Table family for ladies.  Nicky introduced PICCPals to this lovely group and they have fully supported our cause by holding fundraising events of their own and donating to our group.

After retiring Nicky had more time on her hands to pursue her passion for sewing.  She joined the ZoeZigZag weekly sewing classes at Kayes Textiles and it was here that she was introduced to the group and came on board as one of the volunteers. Nicky said she is "delighted to take real passion and create something useful to people who are going through a difficult time" She also commented that she was "honoured to be asked by Nikki and Zöe to join the PICCPals board - two very inspirational humans"

Anthea is our chief packer, head of Quality Control and one of our founding members. Anthea got involved when the group of sewing bees started at Southend Dance Centre. We quickly discovered her eye for detail which made her the ideal choice for this essential role. 

"Together with my daughter Louise, over the past three years we have measured, checked, packed, printed and labelled over 17,000 sleeves. There were points in the early days when rooms were piled high with sleeves"

Anthea has always been a dedicated PICCPal.  As well as packing, she also seeks out opportunities to spread the word about what we are trying to achieve as well as fundraise wherever and whenever she can.

So far, together with Louise, Anthea has measured, checked and packed enough sleeves to go up and down the Burj Khalifa twice and then back up again for a cocktail.  We reckon she deserves one!

Merrill was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 - she was 38.   She had surgery, chemotherapy plus radiotherapy and was given a PICC line to administer the drugs.

“It was a difficult time in many ways and having a line in for everyone to see was challenging, especially having a young family.  I, therefore, have a clear understanding of how each person is feeling when they are going through any kind of treatment that requires having a line in place”

Merrill started volunteering with PICC Pals quite early into their journey. She had sewn through Covid as part of a scrub-hub with some sewist friends and wanted to continue to use her skills to help out. She has sewn with them now for over two years and in that time has made hundreds of sleeves.  

“I love the idea of the sleeves and wish there had been something like this when I had my line.  Knowing that they had been crafted to such a high quality and with such kindness would definitely have made me feel more confident when venturing out and about. Each cover is made with love, empathy and understanding and the little hug that the covers invevitably deliver reminds you that you are not alone on your journey ”

Rosemary is one of our board members and a key volunteer who supports all aspects of the PICCPals process. She is involved in quality control, packing, sewing, fund raising and training.  We think that if PICCPals operated the McDonalds star system, Rosemary would have earned every single one of the stars!

Having retired from nursing over 10 years ago, Rosemary was looking at turning her hand to sewing, knitting and a bit of tapestry to fill her days.  After popping into Kayes Textiles to gain a little inspiration and join some classes to further her knowledge and skills, she was told about PICCPals and asked if she would like to volunteer. Rosemary explains“I thought one day a month is not too onerous, so I went along to one of their Wednesday morning sessions and found my family - a group of fabulous ladies led by the indomitable Nikki and Zöe. Everyone was so charming and supportive and they also had cakes!”

Rosemary continues “One thing that I missed about nursing was the warm,  fuzzy feeling that you get when you’ve helped to make someone’s day that little bit brighter and PICCPals has given that back to me”

Anita is one of our dedicated sewists who joined PICCPals after her daughter introduced her to the group.  Anita was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and after surgery and radiotherapy she joined a 'Moving Forward' course through Breast Cancer Now. The group bonded and they supported each other through their recovery. Following the success of the group Anita trained to run further sessions as a volunteer. But Covid struck, the sessions went online and she found herself supporting her daughter, Merrill, through her own breast cancer and chemotherapy journey. 

 Fast forward...

 Add in the purchase of a new sewing machine, the rediscovery of a love of sewing and the ability to rekindle her long lost confidence and you find Anita as a key player in our fabulous group of volunteers, sewing at the hub and at home.  She is also a fabulous baker, bringing delicious home-made cakes to our volunteer sessions!

Anita comments “I feel immensely privileged sewing these sleeves and, for every one that I complete, I know in my heart that they are sewn embracing the love, understanding and empathy for those who are about to receive them”

Denise is one of our lovely volunteer cutters, she cuts our beautiful materials into strips of different sizes as re quired.  She first heard about PIICPals at one of her Women's Institute group meetings.  At this meeting Nikki spoke so passionately about the group and the work that they were carrying out that she wanted to know more 

"I went along to a session a couple of years ago and have been going ever since!  Nikki and the group were so welcoming and I very much enjoy being part of the team.  I am pleased to be able to give something back as I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, I had several surgeries, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

I hope that anyone going through any type of treatment is comforted by receiving the sleeves from PICCPals and to know that people are thinking of them as they cut, sew, pack and post.  It really is a fabulous organisation"

Shoba joined our sewing team after making enquiries at Kayes Textiles for sewing groups. 

After working for almost 30years full time and taking a creer break to pursue some traveling with her husband, on her return Shoba was looking for a new interest to pass the time. She has always had a passion for sewing and wanting to make her own clothes. It was when looking for for classes that she discovered Kayes Textiles and then found PICCPals.  

By being part of the sewing team Shoba not only supports the charity's work but she also hopes that this will give her the confidence in her sewing abilities to further her skills to make clothing and learn more about fashion. 

"I love this team and look forward to working with them every month.  I would like to learn all of the tasks involved in making and distributing a PICC sleeve so I can help with anything.  Nikki and Zöe are very inspiring, lovely ladies. It's a great feeling knowing that the sleeves I have sewn are worn by patients. I will always continue to give a hand to PICCPals."