"Well done Finley" – kind-hearted youngster lifting the spirits of Shropshire ambulance crews with home-made goody bags
A kind-hearted eight-year-old with a love of ambulances has been handing out goody bags to paramedics when they arrive at a county hospital.
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Finley-Jay, who has been giving the gifts to crews at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, has been thanked by the hospital's management – and West Midlands Ambulance Service, who said he was putting a smile on the faces of their crews.
The youngster started handing out the gifts after being inspired by a Facebook group.
The group is called ‘Hit the Ambulance gamers', where the term ‘hit’ refers to a random act of kindness, such as a smile, wave, or giving anything such as sweets, chocolates or drinks to ambulance crews.
Inspired by the message Finley-Jay then started making up goody bags and handing them out to the crews.
His love for ambulances has now grown and he even has his own Facebook page called Finley-Jay's Ambulance Bags Journey.
His mum Laura Stubbs spoke of her pride at her son's kind-hearted spirit.
She said: “I am so proud of him – he is such a kind little boy. Whenever we have some spare time you can find Finley up at the hospital by A&E handing out little bags that he's made up to hand out to every ambulance that arrives at A&E. He's that popular that Shrewsbury ambulance crews all know him now.”
The youngster, who has ADHD, puts tea, coffee, sweets, biscuits, chocolates, and pens in the bags he makes up.
All of the items that go in the bags are gifted to him by friends and family.
He also makes lots of bags up for Easter, Halloween and Christmas – all containing different items, which represents the each individual special time of year.
Hayley Flavell, Director of Nursing at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “What a lovely and kind gesture by Finley – his goody bags will make all the difference to the ambulance crews that arrive at our hospital. Well done Finley!”
Will Gould, Senior Operations Manager at West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Shrewsbury Hub, said: “Finlay is someone our crews look forward to seeing. He has been doing this for a while now and each time he does, it really brings a smile to the crew he ‘hits’.
"Our staff don’t do the job for thanks, but having someone like Finlay handing out goody bags certainly makes the role even more worthwhile.
"A really big ‘thank you’ to him and his mum Laura.”
