School steps up production of face shields for NHS

Teachers who are making protective visors for the NHS in their school’s art and design workshop have teamed up with a Premier League football team and a car manufacturer to scale up their production.

Ed Cann, an art and design teacher at Norwich School, said that staff made 138 face shields on the first day of production 16 days ago.

This has been stepped up to more than 300 per day with the help of businesses including Lotus, whose engineers are helping to cut visors, and Norwich City Football Club – which is helping with distribution.

More than 3,600 visors have been made to date and distributed to 30 facilities including hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes, the school said.

Mr Cann, who originally set up the initiative to manufacture face shields, said: “It is amazing to see the breadth of local businesses coming together to work with Norwich School in supplying the vital PPE to the NHS and other key service providers at this time.”

Libby Pearson, a GP from London, received some of the face shields for her surgery in Fulham.

She described them as “fabulous”, adding that her nurse told her the visor makes her feel “so much safer”.

“We saw an old man last Friday for a blood test, he was clinically completely well, and it came back on Monday very abnormal,” she said. “Tests have now shown he has Covid-19 so you just can’t tell.

“We need to be wearing this for seeing everyone, as even well people are spreading the virus.

“It really will make such a difference and we are so grateful.”