People with sewing machines wanted to make scrubs and headbands for NHS workers in Milton Keynes

Sewing for the NHS - Bedfordshire, Bucks & Milton Keynes already has 500 members on its Facebook page and they are sewing anything from complete sets of scrubs to simple drawstring bags to hold infected uniforms before they are washed.

Hospitals, hospices and care homes all over the area are messsaging the group with appeals for more items.

Wash bags and the fabric headbands designed to hold nurses' hair back are easy to make from old pillow cases or scraps of fabric, say the organisers.

"If you can sew, Milton Keynes hospital are in desperate need of scrubs and wash bags for their scrubs to go into. Fabric can be provided for the scrubs and you can use pillow cases or old shirts, sheets etc for the bags," said a spokesman for the group.

The bags are used to put in dirty scrubs to avoid them contaminating anything else before they are washed. They will be laundered inside the bag, so fabric must be suitable for a 60 degree wash. Bags should measure around 15”x 20”.

"Re-purposed pillow cases work brilliantly. You just need to add a drawstring," said the spokesman.

The community of sewers is appealing for companies to donate fabric, particularly for the scrubs. They have organised a fundraising page for materials and you can donate here

You can join the group or contact them through Facebook here