For many people, being furloughed from work was a time of great anxiety and uncertainty.
Not so for Fed Manager, Joyce Khan, who decided from before she had even left work to turn it into a huge positive!
“Times simply couldn’t be harder for us. Financially and emotionally. So I want to turn my leave of absence into a positive opportunity,” she said.
“High up amongst our many challenges is the daily struggle to equip our Heathlands Village staff with enough PPE (personal protective equipment) – we are currently using 12,250 pairs of gloves a week, the same number of aprons, 6,250 masks and 1,050 full gowns.
The expense is phenomenal – £5,000 per week! It is draining the pot dry.
“My own mum, Marlene, who has just turned 87, has been a resident at the Village since March last year and is currently recovering, thank G-d, from Covid-19, in the loving care of the fantastic team on the Wolfson Unit.”
Setting herself a challenge of raising £5,000 for The Fed’s PPE fund, Joyce pushed herself to lose 14lbs during her three weeks off – admitting she’d never lost so much in a short space before.
“I set myself a very ambitious target, having only ever lost a maximum of 13lbs in four weeks before. I’m still aiming to meet my 14lbs target, even though I’m now back at work – but I’m absolutely delighted with the support I’ve had and the money we’ve raised. I smashed the £5,000 target and feel like I’ve succeeded.”
Not content with simply losing the weight and posting updates online, Joyce enlisted the help of friends and family members to make some hilarious, socially-distanced video clips highlighting her journey, which were received around the world from her Facebook page.
“Apart from the money raised, the videos were great fun to do and the responses I had were amazing,” she continued.
“People kept asking me to make more of them and telling me they really cheered them up; one couple said they were sponsoring me because I’d made them laugh so much!”