A Book for the Heroes

Creating this book. Why and how?

Lucy’s sister and brother in law are police officers in the London met. They have three beautiful little girls who they have to leave every day to go to the front line and help strangers keep safe.

We all have a similar story. We all know people who are ‘going out for us’ and risking their own health:- The doctors, nurses, carers, emergency services, volunteers and social workers, the armed forces, council employees, shop workers and police officers, the firefighters, farmers and pharmacists, the delivery people, teachers, the emergency tradespeople, undertakers and vital manufacturers (sorry if we’ve forgotten anyone!).

These are our true life heroes but how can we show them our unending appreciation?
What can we do? At FromLucy we only know how to make books, how can WE make a difference?
After a conversation over the phone with our amazing printer we thought “why not make a book to celebrate the keyworkers?” Something to make them smile at the end of a hard day. We decided straight away that we do not want to make money from sales of this book. All profits FromLucy make will go to mental health charity MIND - who are facing unprecedented challenges in this difficult time - this is our way of ‘giving something back’.

We have created this entire book in just two days - using the wonder of the internet we have coordinated the whole project as a team, all from the safety of our own homes.

We would never continue shipping out orders if we felt that our staff were in any danger, or if we are advised by the government not to do so.  We are fortunate to have our studio on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. We can continue to ship out because we can keep our environment safe and no one needs to travel on public transport. We are a small team of 7.  Some of us are working entirely from home, others are working in shifts at our building to enable our ecommerce sales to ship, so are rarely together, and if we cross over, each member of staff has their own work area which no one else touches, all over three meters apart. We have a strict hygiene protocol which includes immediate hand washing upon entering the building and a list of surfaces/switches/handles to wipe down with antibacterial wipes every morning and evening. We wear gloves when packaging. The door is locked and no one can come in (we are mail order only, not a 'shop' open to the public). The incredible delivery people (who will all receive a copy of this book) are picking up all orders from a safe area with no face-to-face contact.

We feel it is important to continue to work and to continue to pay our taxes while we still can, we realise what a blessing a safe job is right now. We are determined that our staff will have something to come back to and that we will continue to employ and pay staff for as long as we can safely do so and as long as they feel safe and protected, with the aim of not adding more pressure to government resources.

We also know how important it is for people to still send gifts to their loved ones. They cannot be together, but they still want to show that they care.

Obviously we will always follow the government’s advice and will close immediately if it becomes unlawful to stay open.

So please go ahead and create as many books as you need to tell your own heroes how amazing they are and know that the money you spend will make them smile, and will go towards helping people's mental health in these troubling times. 

With very best wishes, stay safe!

The FromLucy team xxx