Peterborough school produces thousands of visors for front line workers

Staff at a Peterborough school have helped front line workers by making thousands of protective visors.
Adrian HargreavesAdrian Hargreaves
Adrian Hargreaves

After becoming acutely aware of the shortage of personal protective equipment for frontline workers back in March, staff at Jack Hunt School were keen to put their skills, experience and materials to the test.

Picking up on the growing shortage of protective visors for NHS and care workers across the country, staff from the school’s Design Technology department quickly began working up prototypes, unaware they were starting a process that would see them manufacturing over 10,000 pieces for frontline workers right across our region.

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Word quickly spread, and the visors are now being used in four hospitals, including one in Nottingham, a number doctors surgeries and in 173 care homes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Pamela Kilbey, Headteacher at the school, said: “I can’t thank my staff enough for the ingenuity, effort and determination they have shown in helping those who have been supporting our country on the frontline. There have been a number of schools locally and nationally who have supported the NHS in various ways, and we are delighted to have also been able to play our part in making a difference.”

Adrian Hargreaves, a Design Technology teacher at the school added: “The philosophy at Jack Hunt has always been about caring and helping others, so we were only too pleased to have a go and do our bit. We wanted to create equipment that was safe and reusable, and as the word spread we knew we weren’t stopping at 1000 or even 2000 units! It has taken some long days and weekends, but it’s worth every second if it helps protect the keyworkers who have been working so hard for all of us.

“This pandemic as bad as it is, has brought the caring side out of more people. Let’s hope this continues long after this pandemic leaves us.”

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Jonathan Lewis, Director of Education for Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, said: “The staff at Jack Hunt have been excellent throughout the pandemic, and this is a great example of how our teachers and school staff across the region have just kept going regardless. Whether supporting in-school teaching or home learning, manufacturing PPE or helping their communities with things like food deliveries, they haven’t stopped, and I hope when this is all over they can look back and be proud everything they have done to help.”