Volunteers hailed for helping supply PPE to care homes

Community groups across Tayside and Fife have been hailed for their “outstanding” community effort after supplying thousands of items of PPE to care homes.

Volunteers from schools, Men’s Sheds and businesses have stepped up to help care workers from Balhousie Care Group.

A group of teachers in Dundee have helped produced more than 1,000 visors for staff at Balhousie Clement Park in Dundee and Balhousie Moyness in Broughty Ferry.

Led by Grove Academy’s design and technology staff, the shields were created using a laser cutter and laminate pouches.

Teachers at Monifieth High School supplied Balhousie Antiquary Care Home in Arbroath with 40 visors, while Webster’s High School in Kirriemuir manufactured 30 masks for Balhousie Lisden Care Home in the town.

Kinross Men’s Shed used a 3D printer to create 40 face shields for Balhousie Rumbling Care Home.

In Fife, FLEXCON Europe’s plant in Glenrothes, which makes films and adhesives, donated 1,000 perspex face shields for several homes.

Donations of ipads, tablets, Easter eggs and hand sanitisers have also been distributed between 26 care homes across Courier Country.

Jill Kerr, group chief executive officer at Balhousie Care Group, said: “We’re incredibly grateful for all of these donations at this challenging time for our very hard-working care home staff.

“It’s an outstanding community effort for everyone involved and very heartening to see schools, community groups and businesses step up to help like this. A huge thank you to all of them.”

Meanwhile, the Royal Mint is to manufacture nearly two million medical visors to help protect NHS staff from coronavirus across England and Wales.

Engineers developed a successful prototype in 48 hours, and already 150,000 have been made for hospitals.

Production has been stepped up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the Royal Mint’s site in Llantrisant, South Wales.

The Royal Mint – which is more commonly known for making coins and investment products – has transformed its visitor attraction into an emergency production line, making more than 100,000 medical visors per week.

Companies including Brammer, TJ Morgan and Technical Foam Services have worked with the Royal Mint to source the components.

In addition to producing medical visors, the Royal Mint has worked closely with the NHS to provide other support, including helping design and print Covid-19 awareness cards for staff at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Anne Jessopp, chief executive of the Royal Mint, said: “When people think of the Royal Mint they think about the coins in their pockets, but we’ve been making useful products for the nation for 1,100 years and have a team of skilled designers, engineers and production staff.

“Together they turned a rudimentary visor design into a working model in just 48 hours, and within a week we were manufacturing thousands per day.”

Volunteers across Tayside and Fife have helped produce visors for Balhousie Care Group staff.