Celebrating our community champs
We round up some of the projects we have supplied in the fight against Covid-19 and look at the way people around the business – on furlough or at work – have supported their communities…
3D-printer owner Garry Forshaw has helped produce much-needed face shields for NHS frontline workers. He used his device to make the plastic headband of the visor in his spare time as part of a drive by online group 3DCrowd.
“I produced about 200, but 3DCrowd really did the hard work as they handled orders and arranged the collections and distribution – a monumental effort,” said Garry, a fitter at Wigan asphalt plant.
Receptionist Lou Brennan has teamed up with her mum to make more than 100 sets of scrubs and scrubs bags for local hospitals, care homes, clinics and community NHS centres.
Along with donations of material, Lou has raised close to £600 to pay for fabric using JustGiving and social media appeals, and a sign on her car, with retired nurse Gina doing the sewing.
“When I saw urgent requests for scrubs on Facebook in the spring, I suggested it to mum, who was a seamstress before being a nurse,” said Lou, from the Bedford office of specialist building contractor Irvine-Whitlock. “We hope to continue into the new year.”
Donna Flook has put her knitting skills to good use making ear protectors for NHS care workers and hats for premature babies.
With support from family and friends, the administrator in the land and mineral resources team at Chipping Sodbury has helped three hospitals by knitting around 200 ear savers – they avoid sore ears by holding masks in place – and 50 newborn baby hats.
Donations of PPE to local NHS trusts and organisations have come from several sites. They include the Whatley quarry team, who gave 3,000 disposable gloves to the Somerset Adult Social Care and Support service.
The Ketton cement plant team gave 50 overalls to the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust in a donation arranged through the site’s contract cleaner, Colin Hales.
A DIY sign, a Christmas star and a rousing video of quarry machines are among the ways site teams have shown their heartfelt support for NHS and key workers.
Three volunteers for Purfleet’s Regen plant DIY-ed a six-metre sign using recycled materials for one of their mill towers and the Batts Combe team fixed up their festive star and fired off their siren during lockdown’s Clap for Carers.
The Whatley team also sounded their works siren for the weekly Clap and posted a video online of 12 giant trucks and dumpers with drivers clapping and lights flashing in the quarry.
