The Candlelight Care head office in Glastonbury has received the first batch of PPE equipment designed and created by a Strode College lecturer and his partner.

The NHS is doing all it can to prepare for the next phase of the coronavirus pandemic, and Strode College in Street is doing what it can to help.

PPE is a key factor in limiting the spread of this disease and is also vital to enable NHS staff to care for patients. Demand is currently outstripping supply.

The staff at Strode College have been busy trying to help. Dan Basra, lecturer in IT and engineering, and his partner Kayleigh Ecsh have worked together to design head bands and face shields that are then fitted with either OHP acetate films or A4 laminating pouches for PPE.

They have a small fleet of 3D printers running non-stop in their spare room producing around 64 a day. Strode College gave the two man team all the 3D printers they own to join the work.

Dan and Kayleigh have produced and delivered the first batch of 30 face shields yesterday (April 7) to the Candlelight Care head office in Glastonbury.

These have been well received and a request for a further 50 has been made this morning. They are now producing a batch for their local NHS home visit team, which they hope can be completed by the end of the day.

The raw materials are donated at no charge, but they are having to purchase some materials. 3D printer material is now hard to source with UK stocks low, and they will soon run out of OHP/laminating plastics. If anyone knows of any surpluses stocks, it could be well utilised.

To donate additional supplies to Dan, send your supplies of 1.75mm diameter PLA 3D printer filament and A4 Acetate overhead projector films, or 100 micron A4 laminating pouches to Strode College, Church Street, Street, Somerset BA16 OAB and they will deliver to Dan.

Strode College have also donated all 60 of the safety glasses from our science labs to four local GP surgeries in Street, Glastonbury and Wells, for frontline staff to use alongside other PPE when having face to face contact.

They have also donated 39 boxes of nitrile gloves to the NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and Somerset County Council for their work across the Somerset Health and Care system to ensure stock reaches those most in need.

Katy Quinn, principal and CEO of Strode College, said: "We are so proud of our NHS and the work they are doing in this time of crisis and we are very pleased to be able to help as much as we can to protect the front line NHS staff.

"Strode College have many former students from our health and social care and A-levels courses, who now work in the healthcare sector and we are so proud of them all and the fantastic job they do.

"I am so impressed with the work of Dan and his partner Kayleigh who have worked so hard to design a unique piece of PPE equipment using 3D printing techniques."