Nurses get lifesaving equipment thanks to Hartlepool school

Staff at St Hild’s Church of England School, supported by children of key workers, made over 250 safety visors using materials found in their technology department.

High Tunstall College of Science also donated resources to help the school produce the visors.

St Hild’s Senior Technician Steve Wilkinson co-ordinated the effort to make the visors, whilst adhering to social distancing rules, and was supported by colleagues Brian Carlin, Tony Jones and teacher Chris King.

The pupils attending school said they valued the opportunity to help support the NHS and carers.

Visors were distributed to care homes and medical practices across the area including Hart Medical Practice, Rossmere Park Care Centre, Sheraton Court Care Home and Brierton Lodge Care Home.

They were also sent to Lindisfarne Care Home, who sent the school a ‘thank you’ postcard, and the Hartlepool District Nurse Team, who shared a photo of staff wearing the equipment.

Headteacher at St Hild’s Tracey Gibson said she was proud of the efforts of staff and pupils.

She said: “Our key workers are doing an amazing job and we want to support them in any way we can.

“When it became apparent that they were not able to access the PPE they needed to give them some peace of mind, we were keen to help.

“I am so proud of our staff and pupils who contributed to support local key workers in such a significant way.”

The school has put in an order to replenish the materials and plans to keep making visors for as long as they are needed.

The school also obtained funding from Hartlepool Borough Council and support from its catering department to put together almost 50 food parcels which were delivered to families in need over the Easter holidays.

Magic Breakfast, a nationwide charity looking to provide healthy breakfasts to vulnerable children, also donated food which allowed a further 28 parcels to be delivered this week.

The school says it is proud of the teamwork that has enabled it to carry out this important work to support families and the local community.

St Hild’s Church of England School had also previously donated protective eyewear to the council to help them deal with the coronavirus outbreak, as did High Tunstall College of Science and Hartlepool College of Further Education.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you