MORE ON THE VILLAGE HALL PPE PRODUCERS
ANNIE ROBINSON WRITES:
Annie and David Robinson are extremely grateful to Peter Calder and the Lowick Village Hall Committee for allowing them to set up Lowick Village Hall as a sewing hub where materials can be donated and items collected to make personal protective clothing for our Front Line Staff. The space has been invaluable and enabled us to maintain social distancing.
All this is part of Northeast England Sewing for the Front Line (NESFL) co-ordinated by Zoe Worrall with the help of Audra Peacock in North Northumberland. Annie has teamed up with Michelle Dixon from Berwick and she has the same set up in East Ord Village Hall.
Our hope was to help streamline and coordinate what was required in our area and reduce the impact on our local Front Line Staff with numerous requests. The use of the facilities has made it easier to coordinate a team of growing stitchers from both sides of the border and as of May 11 more than 1006 items from both sites have been delivered to:
Berwick Infirmary; GP surgeries in Berwick, Wooler, Coldstream and Belford; Paramedics in Berwick and Wooler; District Nurses across North Northumberland; Carers from Berwick to Beadnell and across the border, Care Homes in Berwick and Wooler and schools in Lowick and Berwick.
These items have included gowns, scrubs, scrub and uniform washbags, face mask buddies, headbands and hearts.
The photo montage shows the Lowick team working across both areas and a really efficient use of time is with the preparation of making packs for some of the professional stitchers who are helping the cause. In Lowick we have support and items made from The Lowick quilters including; Beverly Clyne; Janet Lowrie; Judy Moffatt and Linda Waite. Also in Lowick; Lesley Bradbury, Helen Evans (a special thank you for all your extra help with coordinating things), Nadia Ho Brautaset, Eileen Langdale, Lynne Leary, Fiona McIntosh, Cath McLaren, Fiona Smith and Annie Robinson. In Chatton, Lauren May and Belford, Barbara Twineham & the Belford Ladies and Barbara Bryden & her Belford group, and over 26 stitchers from Berwick and the surrounding area. There are also numerous independent stitchers helping with the cause to support our selfless and dedicated Front Line Staff.
The items received on the Front Line have been greatly and sincerely appreciated in helping them feel better protected. The team is now prioritising scrubs and gowns to be made but has a constantly changing list of items that are requested. We now have over 700 scrub and washbags, so please no more
of these are required, thank you to everyone that has made them. If you know of anyone that would like some please let us know.
We have asked those that were making bags to switch to Face coverings. Paul and Eileen Langdale, along with Helen Evans, Linda Waite and Gail Calder are researching this and making these in order to have a supply of these ready for the Village shop. It is not part of the NESFL project to provide these but we understand the desire in the community to have them.
“ Helping Dress Medics” is an organisations helping with supporting Front Line Staff and we are extremely grateful to Pauline Cambers from Northern Costume College in York for providing 112.5m of material for scrubs and gowns. This incredibly generous donation was delivered to the Lowick Village Hall by Fiona McIntosh who kindly arranged this, she will also be cutting out material for the scrubs and gowns for the project “Northeast England Sewing for the Front Line”.
Other generous donations of rolls of fabric have come in this week from Bryon Longbone, Fiona McIntosh and North Northumberland Hospice. Paul Watson and Mike Drawbridge have kindly provided their 3-d visors to Lowick Village Shop and Lowick School and the two sewing hubs at Lowick and East Ord Village Halls. Thank you to Simon Madden for the snood donations for the team.
There is a continuous supply of donated cotton and poly cotton material (which has all been washed at 60ᵒ) to both village halls by the local community for which we are extremely grateful. To keep things manageable we will let you know when we need items, so watch this space.
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