St Swithun’s School, Winchester, has produced and delivered 50 face shields for frontline NHS staff at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, and a further 36 for the staff at Andover Health Centre and the linked ‘hot hub’. The school’s technology department is now in the process of producing an additional 500 shields for NHS staff to use as personal protective equipment. It is hoping to supply Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital too.
The school used a simple design from manufacturing company Kitronik, and its own stock of both High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) and Polypropylene (PP) to produce a clear acetate shield to protect the face which is affixed to the wearer’s head by an adjustable band.
St Swithun’s has also offered the use of boarding bedrooms and parking for NHS staff. Headmistress Jane Gandee said “we are all so grateful to the NHS for their unstinting hard work at this difficult time, and are delighted that we have been able to help”.