Yahoo News Neighbours paint special parking spot for NHS nurse outside her home
For one much-appreciated nurse, finding room to park outside her home will no longer be any trouble after neighbours decided to create a special spot just for her.
Residents along the street in Goldborne, near Wigan, surprised the nurse by spray-painting a reserved space for "our NHS worker" over the weekend.
The husband of the woman, who asked not to be named, spotted the white marked box when he opened the curtains at home on Saturday morning.
The couple's home is located on a busy street of terraced and semi-detached homes where residents must frequently parallel park a long way from their own property in order to get a space.
The neighbour's gesture was accompanied by a sign which read "space reserved: polite notice, please respect the sign and give our NHS worker a chance".
It was signed off "thanks, the neighbours" and quickly went viral on social media, racking up thousands of likes, comments and shares.
The NHS worker's husband said his partner often ended up parking away from their home after her shifts due to not being able to find a space outside.
Describing the neighbours' kindness as "gorgeous", he went on to heap praise on their decision to create a spot solely for his wife amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"No one has a right to park in front of their own house, but what absolutely gorgeous caring neighbours who have done this for her.
"Such a caring touch. She was emotional when the street clapped for the NHS in the week, this will do her in!
"Let's keep supporting our nurses and NHS."
The man said his wife had been left 'touched but embarrassed' by the gesture.
He added: "The amount of likes and retweets has been phenomenal.
"To be honest, my wife is quite embarrassed by the whole thing - although I must stress that she is incredibly touched.
"She's just another nurse going about her job in these terrifying times."
The incident came after parking charges at hospitals and other medical facilities throughout the UK were scrapped for NHS staff amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The move, announced by the Government on Wednesday, came after more than 400,000 people signed a petition calling for the charges to be lifted.
The scrapping of charges for frontline healthcare workers will also apply in council parking bays nationwide, including all on-street parking and council-run car parks. Charges for social care workers and NHS volunteers will also be suspended.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the move would make a "big difference" for thousands of healthcare workers.
"Our NHS staff are working round the clock gearing up to deal with this unprecedented global health threat, which will be a major challenge for health services across the world, and we have listened to what they have told us would make their lives easier," he said.
"But this is just the start, and we will setting out further support offers over the coming days and weeks, to ensure the NHS looks after those who look after all of us."
Private company the National Car Parking Group also confirmed last week that it will provide NHS staff free parking at all 150 of its sites in England, while the Government said it was urging "all businesses and other organisations located near hospitals to work with their local NHS Trusts to consider allowing NHS staff use their car parks".
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