QNI grant will help community nurses affected by floods

Queen’s Nursing Institute grants available to community nurses after storms made it difficult for some to carry on working and forced others out of their homes

Grants of up to £500 are available for community nurses affected by the recent flooding in the UK.

Storm Henk and Storm Gerrit have caused extensive damage across the UK

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) is offering the grant to any registered nurse working in the community who has been severely affected by flooding.

Those eligible include general practice nurses, district nurses, care home nurses, school nurses, health visitors and others.

In recent weeks large parts of the UK have been affected by flooding as Storm Henk and Storm Gerrit swept across the country. Areas in the Midlands, north and south were particularly affected, with dozens of houses suffering extensive damages.

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Parts of the rivers Avon, Dene and Thames burst their banks as the storms brought torrential rain.

Twenty flood warnings and 65 flood alerts remain in place across the country as of 16 January.

QNI grant will help nurses who are severely affected by flooding

QNI grants manager Justine Curtis encouraged community nurses affected by the flooding to apply for the grant.

‘If we can help any community nurse, whether that’s with food for their children or a new car battery, we will. If anyone has been affected financially then please get in touch,’ she said.

The QNI began offering the grants last year when Storm Babet brought widespread rainfall in October. The charity supported 20 successful applications.

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Ms Curtis said: ‘Some of the people who applied at that time had been displaced from their home, some were in a hotel or in temporary accommodation… Some people had to take leave or unpaid leave just to sort things out.

‘The grant was to help with those immediate costs of trying to get through the next few weeks.’

Some nurses had their cars damaged by flood waters while they were seeing patients, with some needing to be rescued after their cars became engulfed by water, Ms Curtis added.

More information on the grant and how to apply

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