Drinks packaging company in Bristol making PPE for NHS and healthcare workers
Healthcare professionals desperate for Personal Protective Equipment to help in the fight against coronavirus are being supported by a Bristol company which makes packaging for some of the world's biggest drinks brands.
Graphic Packaging International in Fishponds has been inundated with requests after designing and producing 50,000 face visors to give away.
"The response has been massive," says Vice-President Martin Sheppard. "Doctors surgeries, care homes, hospitals have all been in touch. Some have even come to my home to collect them from my garage," he added.
A shortage of PPE has been felt by thousands of key workers since the pandemic began with the Government struggling to supply vital kit to all who need it.
Two thousand have been supplied to the new Nightingale Hospital Bristol at the University of the West of England, which has been constructed at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in just three weeks.
The temporary hospital is providing hundreds of extra beds if local services need them during the peak of coronavirus.
One of the biggest consignments of the Graphic Packaging visors has gone to the MHA chain of care homes. Ten thousand have been delivered to a home in Hartcliffe, Bristol, for distribution across the country.
So successful has the donation been, another 50,000 visors are expected to go into production soon with orders still coming in from across the country.