Coronavirus in Portsmouth: Queen Alexandra Hospital nurses boosted with £2,500 fundraiser

Taken from The News Portsmouth Website - dated 18/01/2021

GENEROUS supporters of nurses prepared to ‘sacrifice everything’ on the frontline of Covid-19 are on course to raise thousands of pounds.

Money is being raised for nurses at Queen Alexandra Hospital, in an effort co-ordinated by Oakley Crosswell, who knows only too well about the effort that medical staff are putting in, as his partner of 10 years Alice Porter is a nurse.

The JustGiving page has already broken its original target of £500 and now aims to reach £2,500 with nearly £1,800 raised already.

Money raised will go towards increasing nurse morale by organising an event or day out for the NHS workers, as soon as it is safe to do so.

Oakley Crosswell, 23, from Gosport, has set up a JustGiving page to raise money for the nurses working at QA hospital. He was inspired to do so because his fiance, Alice Porter, is a nurse on the respiratory high care ward so he has seen first hand the effect this pandemic is having on nurse morale. Picture: Sarah Standing (140121-649)

Oakley, 23, said: ‘I wanted to start this fundraiser to really highlight on a local level, what a community can do for nurses on a high care ward.’

Mr Crosswell, who works as a specialist mentor in psychology and mental health, has seen first hand the strength and determination it takes to work on the frontline during a pandemic.

He said: ‘My fiancee works as a nurse on the respiratory high care ward unit, which is treating mainly Covid-19 patients at the moment, I haven't been able to see her for quite a few months now.’

‘Morale is so low on the high care ward, and so many of them are my close friends. At the moment they are just shells of their original selves, in terms that their whole life is treating critically ill patients.’

Alice, who is living away from Oakley, has seen the fundraiser and said: ‘It’s really lovely to see that local people are coming together to help raise our spirits, although we are in tough times we continue to care and support every patient that comes through these doors.

‘Thank you so much to everyone that has donated and help raise awareness.’

Please see the full article here : https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/health/coronavirus-in-portsmouth-queen-alexandra-hospital-nurses-boosted-with-ps2500-fundraiser-3102172