Thousands of volunteers sign up to make scrubs and protective equipment for NHS workers on the front line of coronavirus battle
Thousands of volunteers have stepped in to help produce clothing and protective equipment for doctors and nurses on the front line.
A cottage industry of home sewers are turning their hands to making scrubs.
Others are producing cloth bags for medics to put their scrubs in so they can put them in the washing machine as soon as they get home.
Many more are making fabric headbands after nurses and doctors complained their face masks cut into their skin during long shifts.
Brooke Dennis is seen at work as she volunteers making scrubs for the NHS at her business Make Town in Hackney, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues
Largely co-ordinated on social media, the home sewers are sharing patterns online before teaming up to fulfil orders for their local hospitals and care homes.
Among them is Brooke Dennis, who was hard at work yesterday making scrubs for the NHS at her business, Make Town, in Hackney, east London.
She said she felt compelled to help out, even though her sewing studio is suffering the economic effects of coronavirus.
At the same time, schools nationwide have answered the call for more protective equipment for medics by turning empty classrooms into production lines for plastic visors.
They are using 3D printers and laser cutters usually reserved for design and technology lessons to make the face shields.
The simple specification of the visors – which comprise a plastic sheet and headband – means they can be produced in large numbers in the workshops.
Schools involved include Carmel College, Darlington, which has produced 600 visors for Middlesbrough’s James Cook Hospital, while Harrogate Grammar in North Yorkshire has made 1,000.