Staff at Yarm School have made more than 600 face masks to help local key workers stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Led by the Design and Technology Department, staff from the design and technology department have completed their fourth batch of masks which are ready to be delivered to organisations in need.
For each batch, the team has tweaked the design to enable them to continue production without materials they were struggling to acquire. Through kind donations from the community, and supplies sought by the team, the school has enough resources to continue to make another batch of masks.
The masks have been allocated to 12 organisations across Teesside including Five Lamps, Durham Dales ‘hot hub’ and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which received 100 masks. Former MP Paul Williams shared a picture on his social media, wearing one of the masks during a hospital shift, thanking Yarm School for its community support.
Sam Davison of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “It is amazing to see our communities working together during this time. The pupils and staff at Yarm School have shown great initiative and resourcefulness and I’m hopeful that this will inspire a new generation of engineers and manufacturers. All the staff within the hospitals really appreciate everyone’s efforts and we can’t thank the public enough for their generosity.”
Lisa Pickard, group chief executive at Five Lamps, said: “As a charity delivering more than 1000 hours of home care each week, we were desperately short of essential PPE. Every one of our care assistants now has a face shield and they feel safer and more confident to deliver vital home care and support. Thank you Yarm School; the efforts of staff and students has made a real difference to people’s lives including our service users, who for many the care assistant is the only person they see. I am so proud of our care colleagues, proud of Yarm School and proud to be a Yarm school parent.”
Huw Williams, headmaster of Yarm School, said: “I’m really proud of the Design and Technology colleagues and key worker’s children who are in school with their efforts in supporting our local key workers. To have achieved 600 handmade masks in such a short space of time is outstanding and the team deserves every bit of recognition.
“I hope that we can continue to show our support and solidarity during this difficult time, and I would like to personally thank all the dedicated key workers in Teesside and across the UK.”