Mollie

Rebecca says: "Painting a #portraitsforNHSheros has been an absolute honour, and that is the only way to describe it! As a student who’s A-Levels had just been cancelled due to Covid-19, I found myself floating around, day to day, trying to fill these days with some sort of activity to make myself feel as though I had earned having at least 6 months ‘off’. And what better than using my A-level art education to give something back to a true NHS hero. Mollie and her fellow keyworkers have kept our nation going throughout these testing times, and each and everyone of us is indebted to say a huge thank you to them all."

Mollie says: "I was so fortunate to have discovered the #portraitsforNHSheroes trend on Instagram and have the extremely talented Rebecca Gee paint a portrait of me. Upon opening the portrait I was so impressed with Rebecca's ability to paint the photo I sent her with such accuracy. I honestly can not fault it, her creativity and talent is breathtaking.

During this pandemic I’ve been working on the maternity wards in Swansea as a student midwife, I planned on spending these last 3 months celebrating and finishing my degree after an intense 3 years. However, due to Covid-19 I’ve spent it very differently as to what I had planned as in March i was recruited to work full time on the wards to aid the NHS workforce. Despite currently working in a very difficult and stressful environment with a large increase of inpatients and having to wear hot and restrictive PPE - projects such as #portraitsforNHSheroes have highlighted the sense of community as well as the kind-hearted individuals that make working during the pandemic worth it.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the generosity of Rebecca to paint this portrait for me, I will treasure it always as it’ll remind me that despite such difficult times - generosity and gratitude of others shone through and the nation united."