A Thurso mother-of-two has set up a cottage industry to create thousands of face guards for key workers in the Highlands.
Lizi Blackwood adopted the idea from her father Ken Hooker, 56, after his manufacturing company Proteus Packaging Systems Ltd began making face guards instead of cardboard boxes for NHS Hospitals in England.
With frontline workers raising concerns about the lack of PPE in the north, the development manager for Highlands and Islands Enterprise has pledged to bridge the gap by hand-making thousands of face guards.
The Ashley Anne Kitchens showroom in Thurso will now be transformed into the command centre for the scheme, where six local volunteers, including Miss Blackwood, will work to meet the demand.
She said: “What we are all hearing from NHS Highland and the wider NHS is there is enough PPE to go around and ‘don’t worry, you will get it”.
“Word on the ground, however, is that they either can’t access it, they don’t have enough or they can’t afford it.
“It is a huge worry, I think, for everybody. For us, it is about trying to help bridge that gap.”
Around 4,000 face guards have already been distributed across the north, with a further 3,000 due to be manufactured in the coming days.
Birchwood Highland and Thurso Fire Station are among the organisations benefiting from the scheme as well as some care homes and GP surgeries.
Miss Blackwood said: “It’s a bit overwhelming. Something that started off as an idea to make a few boxes and see how we get on has really grown arms and legs, which is concerning, but amazing.
“The community response has been incredible and I feel that has probably been the most rewarding part of all of this.”
Her daughter Lily is also helping with relief efforts by writing letters to vulnerable residents living alone or in care homes in the community.
The eight-year-old wrote her first letter to her great grandma to give her something to do.
She has also launched an online crowdfunding appeal in support of her family’s PPE initiative, raising more than £500 for the cause.
Meanwhile Lossiemouth businesswomen Maureen Halkett and Lindsey Wyllie have joined forces to do their bit in the fightback against the coronavirus pandemic by producing scrubs and masks.
Unique Ladies Clothes Shop owner Maureen and dress repairer Lindsey’s operation has seen 100 scrubs sent to Dr Gray’s.
She said: “I have been working with Lindsey who has an office in the back of the shop.
“We cut the pattern from the Shetland scrubs and drop off the kits ready to be sewed at people’s homes.
“It has been great and everyone is so willing to get involved.
“Now we have started a little production line for the masks which will be for the general public and carers who want a little bit of protection during these times.”
