Protecting Frontline Staff

Merseyside PPE Hub has been busy making masks, gloves, aprons, faceguards and tailor-made camera breath shields for NEC Care staff and patients throughout England. As a thank you for their hard work, we recently contributed supplies to their partner foodbanks in Liverpool.

What is Merseyside PPE Hub?

Four teachers in the Merseyside area set up Lydiate Learning Trust PPE Hub during April as a way to contribute to and protect their community during lockdown. John Parry, Ste Norbury, John Fittzsimmons and Kev Barber rallied local volunteers to manufacture PPE for health and social care workers on the front line in the fight against Covid-19.

The project’s brilliant results gained the support of local MP and co-founder of Fans Supporting Foodbanks, Ian Bryne. Together with local help, the project was expanded to become Merseyside PPE Hub.

And what they achieved was incredible:

• 47,000 PPE visors
• 37,000 masks
• 30,000 pairs of gloves
• 23,000 aprons
• 4,000 ear savers

Their work with NEC Care

In addition to their work with local foodbanks, Merseyside PPE Hub supported the NEC Care diabetic eye screening service. NEC Care provides eye screening to over half a million people with diabetes in England assessing around 50,000 patients every month in 1,200 different locations.

Merseyside PPE Hub provided Phil Rooney, Service Delivery Manager, with visors, masks and gloves. Not only did they provide this invaluable equipment, but when they were approached by us to manufacture over 120 camera breath shields two dedicated volunteers, Kev Barber and Emma Tansey, stepped up to the challenge protecting screeners and patients across England.

Our gratitude

As a token of our thanks for the incredible work from Merseyside PPE Hub, NEC contributed to the foodbanks that they have worked so hard to protect throughout this challenging time.