Launching CheersNHS

Hey IH,

I’ve built many projects over the years for fun or profit. It was really irking me that I couldn’t think of anything to assist in the coronavirus crisis. More specifically I wanted to find a way to show appreciation to our amazing NHS (National Health Service).

I've been locked down with no ability to help in any real way, sat at home while the NHS fight on the frontline on my behalf.

This is the issue that’s becoming more and more prevalent - the fact that the majority of the nation are locked down in their homes, completely helpless in the battle against the coronavirus, while our amazing NHS are working overtime fighting for all of us.

As the lockdown becomes more draconian this problem intensifies. That is, the general public want to help more but with less tangible ability to do so, and NHS workers are put and an increasing amount of pressure and stress.

We built CheersNHS to allow anyone to give an actual, tangible thanks to a fellow human battling on the frontline. As a gifter, you buy a gift card and then we randomly match you with an NHS worker. We then let you know exactly who you've matched with (E.g. "Sophie, an ICU Nurse, from Cardiff") which provides a great sense of satisfaction in knowing you've specifically made an individual's day a little better.

We have £17k in sponsorship so far from some wonderful companies who'll be covering 1 in 10 takeaways bought through the site.

We also have a variety of costs covered from some amazing companies such as Amazon (AWS), Slack, GitHub, Travis-CI, and Heap Analytics.

Sponsors love that this gives them the ability to help in a real, tangible way.

We’re a small team of volunteers working evenings and weekends to make this a reality. The traction has been immense so far - here are a few samples of the thank yous we've seen from grateful NHS workers...

👉 This is why we built CheersNHS 👇

💙“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much that is so generous and you have no idea how much it is appreciated! You have made my week :)”

💙“That is so very very kind of you. I am going to donate this to my mum (who is also an NHS worker) as she has been working 7days a week at the moment, so i think she deserves this more than me.”

💙“Thank you so much Karen it really is amazing how people are coming together to help others out! 😬”

💙“This has made my day! Thank you so much :)”

If you’d love to say thank you and make an #NHS worker’s day, then please do so here: https://www.cheersnhs.com/

Know a #healthcare worker? Please ask them to spend 30 seconds signing up: https://www.cheersnhs.com/register

Would love feedback from IH.

Also, any advice for getting into the tech and other press publications would be super appreciated.

Cheers,
Joe