Favourite Things

At The Honeycomb Hub we are very fortunate to work in a place filled with lovely people, varied days and tasty cake - thank goodness for the fitness classes!

Sharing reccommendations at
our books exchange. 

Just like Maria in the Sound of Music, we have an ever growing list of favourite things at the Hub, though perhaps not quite so lyrically put.

-Fitness classes and the feeling of achievement, virtuousness (and occasionally relief after a tough one) when you complete one;

Future chefs in the making!

-Chatting with the visitors who come both new and returning – we always have time for a tea and chat!

-Being honoured to host birthday parties and making the day extra special for birthday boys and girls;

-The smell of freshly brewed filter coffee (especially our vanilla one in the mornings);

-Hearing those magical words ‘let’s pretend’ over the walls of Tiny Town;

-Getting to don the story wizard’s hat and read stories at 11am each day

… I could go on and on! However, there is one event that tops all of these. Our blood donation days.

There is an air of excitement on blood donation days. Who will come? How many pints can we collect? How can we make it the best experience for everyone?

These are the days we get a complete mix of people united under one common aim – to help others. 

Mother and Daughter

This week we had a mother with curious children who calmly answered their questions, reassuring them and
reading them a story for the 10 minutes it took to collect her pint of blood. 

Unbeknownst to a teacher, a couple of her students were at the Hub. Now you can take the lady out of the school but the teacher is still there and so she used the opportunity to explain the process to them. 

We had a businessman spend the half hour between meetings giving blood to save lives and 16 other heroes who took the time out of their day to do something for others. To share life. 

We spend the day making tea and coffee, handing out forms and ensuring those who have given blood are sitting down eating their biscuits and having their drinks before they leave. We reassure those who are nervous, hold hands when needed and keep an eye on anyone who may have got up too quickly.

We see the bravest of the community - those overcoming fears of needles and blood. Not for any glory or for financial gain but simply to do a good thing for someone else.  

Gape. This was his 19th time giving
blood. He has single handedly
 shared life with a potential
57 people in need. 

We are also honoured to hear some of the stories. A daughter coming to give blood for the first time telling us “I’m doing this for my mother.” A donor who is doing this because their wife, bother, friend had needed blood at some point in their lives. Those who give blood because, though thankfully they have never had need of it, they want to know there would be some there for their spouses and children if needed. And those who just give blood because they feel it is the right thing to do.

These are the days we set up The Honeycomb Hub for. To bring the community together and to do something good. From a business perspective, these are not our most successful days. We offer our centre for free and to make it easier for parents to donate we let their children play for free. We rarely make any money and our money box certainly won’t be full at the end of it. But our hearts are. Filled with the love that all these people show for their fellow humankind. Donating their own blood for people they most likely don’t know and will probably never meet. But in their own quiet way they are true heroes saving lives.

Dr Mbatshi, (our proud sponsor
of Vet Pro Junior) more used to
 putting needles into others!

So this post is actually a dedication to all those who gave blood this week but especially to the 19 people who took the time out of their busy lives to give blood at the Honeycomb Hub. Their  blood will go on to potentially save the lives of 57 others (as each pint can be used for up to 3 people). However, we also want to thank the many people who are unable to give blood yet took the time and effort to share the event and tell their friends about it. (And a special mention to the awesome lady who cannot give blood but has offered to sponsor advertising the next event!) You are heroes too!

 Do not fear, this is not the last time we shall be doing it! It can’t be, did you know that each pint of blood can only be kept for 40 days? We need to keep hosting the events as there will always be a need for blood. Our next event will be in August and will be on a Saturday for those of you who find weekdays difficult. We shall post the details soon so keep an eye on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WebstersHoneycomb/  and our website www.theyhoneycombhub.com

If you would like to know more about what it is like giving blood and what the guidelines are please read this blog post http://abeehoneycomb.blogspot.com/2018/04/saving-life-or-3.html, get in touch with the National Blood Transfusion Service on 3901134 or 3686700 or send us a message on thehoneycombhub@outlook.com. We would love to hear from you.

Below are the rest of our Honeycomb heroes for the day who all gave blood to share life with others. 

Couples who donate together,
save lives together