Furloughed holiday park entertainer from Huthwaite takes on new role as hospital porter

Anthony Davies, from Colombia Street, was working at the Parkdean Resort, Romney Sands, Kent when he was furloughed on March 21 – on his birthday.

He returned to be with his family in Huthwaite, and as the second lock-down loomed the holiday park closed in November. So, Anthony, 20, decided to offer his services as a porter at Kings Mill hospital, in Sutton in Ashfield.

He said: “I had been so bored on furlough, and I wanted to give the NHS a hand out. It has done a lot for me, and I thought I could be a porter or do something useful. I met some amazing doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital and I really felt like I was doing something worthwhile.”

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Anthony , who is a former Sutton Community Academy pupil, had spent the past two years working mainly as a children’s entertainer, supervising daytime fun and swimming pool activities.

He said: "I am a people person, and I was used to entertaining people in my resort job. I decided at the hospital, if I can make one person smile whilst being a porter I have done a good job.

"The whole experience has been amazing and it has actually inspired me now to look into a career in nursing. It is a bit of a family thing, my partner James Russell, is a nurse, as was my gran Elizabeth Davies, and I have an aunt Lesley King who is a care assistant.

“You see some very upset patients, I try to use my skills learned as a park entertainer to help in those situations, often people are anxious especially about the virus, I try to keep them calm, get them chatting and bring a smile to their face.”

“I shall probably go back to entertaining for another year, I go back to be a splash presenter at Parkdean’s resort at Cayton Bay when things reopen. I shall probably do that for another year.

"In a strange way, the pandemic has lead me to do something positive, a different career and life path to eventually train to be a nurse.”

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