Worcestershire Chinese Association (WCA) has donated 6,600 Fortune Cookies, one for every member of staff across the three hospital sites in the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, to raise a smile and celebrate Chinese New Year.

H-J Colston-Inge, Founder of Welfare for Healthcare, which raised £10,000 in March last year for the hospitals whilst also sewing scrubs, is a member of the WCA.

She said: “I was moved to hear that many staff are suffering from PTSD due to the ongoing challenges of COVID. Knowing that Chinese New Year is a time of hope for the spring and a coming together of family and friends, it seemed a fitting message to find a way to ensure that staff in our hospitals know that they are really valued and appreciated.

"The WCA was unanimous in its response and delighted to support our local NHS by donating these cookies. We wanted to bring a smile and hope to staff in the hospitals in a very personal way and we hope that highlighting the Chinese New Year festival might just do that.”

Chinese New Year starts this year on Friday 12 February and falls at the new moon in the Chinese Lunar Calendar and signals the start of spring.

Sophie Burt, Head of Fundraising from the Trust said “A huge thank you to our local Chinese Community and Welfare for Healthcare for this brilliant donations! The fortune cookies will be a very welcome treat for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust staff who can pick one up on their way through the hospital restaurants and staff canteens in the run up to Chinese New Year. Your support is very much appreciated at what remains a very busy time across the Trust.”

The cookies will be given out to every member of staff via the restaurants and canteens or delivered directly to staff teams from this Friday.

The WCA will be hosting a free Chinese New Year festival online on 21 February on Facebook. To join visit @WorcestershireChineseAssociation