Sara Hyde, A&E nurse

Hazel says: "I was very happy to paint this portrait of Sara. I know what it is like to lose someone close, and especially with so many demands on her, life has become incredibly hard. Knowing this, I feel that the time I spent painting Sara's portrait was time well spent, and she is so deserving of it. Sara is a single mum with 2 children. She has been juggling work on the front line in the A&E dept. at Medway Hospital, and having to protect her children. Her 12 year old son went to stay with his granddad, who suffers from severe COPD, not ideal, but there was no other childcare available. Her 6 year old daughter went to stay with her dad. Sara sadly lost her mum in November last year. Her mum had been her support when things got tough, so this Covid period is a very hard time for her. "

Sara says: "You have really cheered me up! I have not had the best time since my mum passed away in November, and had struggled with my mental health, then the Coronavirus took over. My heart broke for family who couldn’t be there with their loved ones dying. Actually the first person who died with me had the same cancer as my mum.

It broke my heart, as he was alone.

It was really hard wearing the PPE. I have struggled emotionally and I think people forget that. Not only not seeing my kids, I missed my mum and I felt alone. You really have made my day and that picture is something my kids can tell their kids that I worked on the frontline and can treasure for always, and is worth more then any pay rise! So thank you! I will cherish this forever! My mum would have loved it. This is so kind and I can’t stop looking at it."