Teachers from three Norfolk schools will be able to continue making personal protective equipment for NHS staff, after a swift response for funding support brought in over £1,200.
Design and technology teachers from Framingham Earl High, Wymondham College and Hobbart High have been using their skills and 3D printers to make protective visors in recent weeks, with the help of other colleagues.
The DT teachers have been coordinating their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic by helping to meet the national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), with pupils having also helped with the process at times.
Framingham Earl teacher Sarah Wollerton explained: “We’re still in the process of making them all because we’ve got a sort of production line going, but we’ve made enough kits for 350 and we’ve got materials to make another 350, plus we’ve got about 50 3D printed ones as well.
“So all told it’s about 700 but I don’t know the exact quantities but the numbers are getting a bit crazy!”
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Amari Plastics Norwich have also donated materials to help keep the effort on track, with any leftover money set to be donated to charities including the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
“One of the other things I’m doing is collating what all the other design and technology teachers are doing nationally and it is absolutely phenomenal,” Mrs Wollerton continued, who got the idea after talking with a neighbour who works as a surgeon at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.
“I’ve started to collate the PPE which design and technology teachers have been making and so far have over 150 different groups, they’re all making quantities between 50 and 1,000 each, so you can imagine the numbers we’re talking now.
“Norwich School I know have made phenomenal numbers as well, about 1,300 I think it is, so it’s just amazing what they’re producing.
“What’s really fascinating is that we’re all sharing tips and getting feedback from doctors on how to improve the designs, so we’re problem solving, what makes them work best, what’s going to make them reusable.
“It’s been absolutely amazing the way the community have all really got behind this.”
You can donate to the fund at gofundme.com/f/visors-for-nhs-frontline-covid-19-workers.
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