School staff, pupils and their parents are working with local firms to get much-needed protective equipment to NHS workers.

The design technology department at Tonbridge School has led the way on the project to produce face masks which are desperately needed by healthcare staff treating patients with coronavirus symptoms.

Once manufactured at the school, the personal protective equipment (PPE) is being supplied to local GP surgeries as well as to medical teams manning the NHS assessment centre which has been erected in the school car park.

The team producing the masks have been following the government’s social distancing guidelines during the laser-cutting production process - and they now hope that by sharing their designs other schools can be encouraged to create even more kit for NHS workers.

Will Biddle, a design technology teacher and Tonbridge housemaster, said: "We came up with a really simple design and we can quite easily and quickly manufacture these masks in the school workshop in a cost-efficient manner, with a few helping hands.

"We hope that the design can be rolled out to other UK schools through a website our team has set up, make-more-masks.com, which has step-by-step manufacturing information, CAD files and usage guidance, so that each school can support its local NHS Trust as much as possible.

"The masks make use of materials and equipment that design technology departments in schools probably already have. We also recommend that, as and when schools do get production under way, they contact their NHS Trust so that both parties are in touch and up to date."

The website has full instructions on how to how to make protective masks cheaply and easily in a school workshop equipped with a laser cutter, and Tonbridge School is sharing the details of the site with other schools and design technology departments.

“The key thing is that schools take up the baton and start to make these masks for their local communities,” Mr Biddle said.

Also joining the effort to support frontline key workers is Tonbridge sixth form student Jack Raynor, one of the founding members of 3D Crowd, a group of volunteers who are getting together across the country to produce 3D printed face shields in large volumes for the NHS.

Jack has also set up a GoFundMe page which raised £4,000 in its first 24 hours, allowing the team to buy more plastic print consumables for making the frames, and to purchase 80,000 transparent visors.

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