Organisations are going above and beyond to support the community, key workers and other businesses during an unprecedented time.
The Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire and Lebus Upholstery Ltd have both provided vital PPE to protect those on the front line and the most vulnerable.
Scunthorpe based college uses 3D printer to create visors
Despite being closed to pupils, Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire has been making and donating PPE to hospitals, care homes and pharmacies.
So far they have donated gloves and safety googles from their stock, and the engineering team has been 3D printing protective visors.
North Lincolnshire Council has donated laminating sheets from supplies at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre and libraries to the UTC to turn them into face visors.
The college is on the lookout for extra supplies of the filament used in 3D printers and is asking anyone who can help to get in touch.
The donations from the UTC have been well received within the community. Lindsey Lodge Hospice has benefited from the donation, they said:
“On behalf of everyone at Lindsey Lodge Hospice, thank you so much for your generous donation of a box of gloves and 16 eye shields, we have been overwhelmed by how much our local businesses and individuals have donated. Your support makes all the difference to our patients and their families by helping us to continue to deliver and extend our services and be ‘always there to care’.”
Ian Bates, Senior Engineering Teacher and Head of Sixth Form at the UTC, said:
“During our first week of virtual learning whilst very much focused on our online teaching materials and student portal, it became clear that there were PPE shortages around the local area due to Covid-19 and we knew we had to do something to help our wonderful key workers.
“After checking the school of existing PPE stock, we originally distributed packages to local care homes totalling 150 goggles and 500 gloves. We then got to work designing protective visors from an approved design recommended online. Using our schools 3D printers, we were able to produce around 20 to 30 head bands to hold the protective visors, each day. Whilst our machines were never designed for mass production but prototyping, our team have worked hard to monitor the materials to ensure each item is to a high specification.
“Thank you to our staff and the incredible community support and encouragement we have been able to get out around 500 pieces of PPE out to our key workers at care homes, pharmacies and on wards at both Scunthorpe and Grimsby hospitals. Thank you also to Jaylaurs at Brigg, Sanderson Green, Systematic Print and Scotts Property LLP for donating resources such as elastic, acetate and plastic filament that allowed us to continue production.
“We are extremely honoured to be supporting our local community by providing the PPE gear our key workers need in the fight against Covid-19.”
Local upholsterer provides hundreds of scrubs for hospital
Lebus Upholsterer Ltd was quick to respond when Scunthorpe General Hospital asked them to sew 800 sets of scrubs for their staff.
After being contacted they put a call out to their employers to see if they could get volunteers to help with the task. Twenty five employers volunteered to help out to ensure the hospital could get the scrubs they needed.
Karl Walker, Managing Director, Lebus Upholsterer Ltd, said:
“Members of the workforce wanted to try and help in some way during these unprecedented times. As we have the infrastructure we were delighted that a number of the workforce volunteered, unpaid to work and produce PPE for local charities and Scunthorpe General Hospital. A small contribution, but hopefully a valuable one to the people caring for us all currently.”
