Volunteers from digger giants made PPE
A TEAM of 16 district nurses in Leek have taken delivery of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) made and delivered by a team of JCB volunteers.
JCB reopened its Innovation Centre at the World HQ in Staffordshire so tooling and moulding engineers Joe Mumby, 22, and Joe Bagley, 25, could volunteer and make medical grade visors for NHS staff on the company’s 3D rapid prototype machines.
Last week, fellow JCB employees, Blood Bikers Mike Poxon and Steve Hawkes, volunteered to make deliveries of the visors to local hospitals and NHS Staff.
Deliveries were made to The Royal Stoke University Hospital, the Haywood Hospital in Burslem, and to a team of 16 district nurses in Leek. The Derby Royal Hospital has also received a quantity after contacting JCB.
Now JCB is awaiting the delivery of more medical-grade acetate this week so hundreds more of the visors can be completed and delivered to the local community.
Leek District Nurse Karen Hales said: “Our team is going into people’s houses and residential care homes on a daily basis and these visors make us and our patients feel so much safer. We are very thankful for the donation of visors from JCB.”
Haywood Hospital Domestic Supervisor Bryan Finney said: “It’s great for companies like JCB to be supporting the NHS and key workers in this way.
“This donation will make a massive difference to all key staff working on the COVID wards and we really appreciate it.”
Mike Poxon, 56, of Upper Tean, near Cheadle, whose wife Lorraine is a Senior Staff Nurse with the Cancer and Supportive Therapies Team in the community, delivered the visors to the Haywood Hospital.
He said: “Joe and Joe are doing an amazing job producing the visors and I was delighted to help deliver them to the fantastic NHS staff who are doing such a great job at our local hospitals.”
The project started when JCB Principal Electronics Engineer James Morley, 43, converted his garage to produce vital supplies. Inspired by his efforts, JCB re-opened its Innovation Centre so production could start on a volunteering basis.
James is also rapid prototyping socalled ‘superhero nurse’ headbands which make face masks more comfortable for medical staff to wear as they fit on the back of the head rather than on to the back of ears.
Meanwhile, last month, JCB’S ‘Food for our Communities’ initiative served up a major milestone as the 10,000th meal was despatched from the company’s kitchens for those in need in Staffordshire.
Since the launch of the scheme – the idea of Carole Bamford, wife of chairman Lord Bamford – catering staff at the World HQ have been preparing cottage pies, macaroni cheese and bolognese dishes for disadvantaged families and individuals across the region.