Tesco champion brings community groups and generous local companies together to refresh hospital children’s ward

Tesco Hampton Community Champion, Sharron Toms, (r) with Zoe Wilkinson, Amazon Ward’s play service coordinator.

A children’s ward at Peterborough City Hospital has benefitted from a revamp thanks to the industrious efforts of a kind-hearted Tesco employee.

Sharron Toms, who is a Community Champion at the Serpentine Green store, has been the driving force behind a campaign to help improve facilities on the hospital’s Amazon Ward.

The dynamic supermarket worker felt compelled to act after Zoe Wilkinson, Amazon Ward’s play service coordinator reached out with a request.

Sharron Toms, and her Community Room, within the Tesco Serpentine Green superstore at Hampton.

“Zoe messaged us to see if we [Tesco] could make a donation to help refresh and revamp the parents’ rooms,” Sharron explained.

Though moved by Zoe’s situation,Sharron was not immediately able to offer the assistance the hospital needed.

“I initially messaged her back and said ‘I really can’t do anything about it because I don’t have that kind of budget’,” Sharron recalled.

The Community Champion admitted that rejecting the hospital’s request didn’t sit well.

“It played on my mind and I thought: ‘It’s not right, we’ve got to do something’.”

In short time, Sharron hit upon the bright idea of asking groups who use Tesco’s Community Room at Hampton for help.

The well-equipped venue serves as a de-facto base for photography, boxing and motorbiking clubs, as well as yoga, table tennis and children’s care groups.

“I said ‘let’s do something good for someone’ - and they all agreed.”

The groups clubbed together to buy a host of kitchen apparatus and furniture items that Peterborough City Hospital could use to upgrade the parent areas within Amazon Ward - something that hadn’t been done for over 13 years.

“What Sharron was able to do was magnificent,” said a clearly delighted Zoe.

All of the family areas, including the kitchens and the bedrooms where parents of chronically unwell children have to stay overnight, have benefitted from new items, including kitchen tables, crockery, bedside cabinets, cutlery and chairs.

“It really will make a big difference to the families who have to come on to the ward,” Zoe said.

Sharron – who also managed to arrange complimentary doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, and get everything delivered to the hospital for free by CarWorld – said it was an “absolute pleasure” to help “such a worthy cause.”