Highland 3D printer project making personal protection equipment (PPE) for frontline NHS staff grows from strength to strength and raises more than £4500 in just one week during coronavirus pandemic
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A Highland project which uses 3D printers to produce plastic personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline NHS staff during the Covid-19 outbreak has gone from strength to strength over the past week.
The collective, 3D print for cover-19 Highlands, launched an online crowdfunder appeal earlier this month to raise £1000 to cover the cost of materials and within seven days they had successfully raised £4,507 from 176 supporters.
Initially they were supplying Raigmore hospital in Inverness but they have since had interest from other hospitals and care homes across the Highlands.
Karen-Ann Dicken, a jewellery designer and art and design lecturer at Inverness College UHI, has been involved and said it had been a hectic week.
She said: "We are just full on printing kit. I've been put in charge of distribution. It's just a case of producing the stuff and getting it out there."
Miss Dicken said the response had been good and added: "I think it's been absolutely brilliant and there has been some really good support and we've had some really good donations."
Chris Aitken, from John o' Groats, is a computing science teacher at Wick High School began the initiative an NHS employee asked him if he could produce face masks and face shields using 3D printer technology.
Interest grew through social media and he said: "As orders kept coming in, I couldn't keep up so put a call out on Facebook for anyone with a 3D printer in Caithness up help out. We now have a team of nine people printing and we've received requests for almost 900 items of PPE. The dedication of this team to supporting our NHS staff really is both admirable and humbling.
"Donations have been coming in all week and not only are we as a team grateful for this but the feedback we've received from carers and NHS staff has been so positive, especially since we're giving these away for free, paid for by donation.
"I suspect we'll soon be seeing requests coming from further afield and we're more than happy as a team to do our bit for everyone working on the frontline to keep us all safe."
Saulius Kazakauskas, who is originally from Lithuania and moved to Wick four years ago, said 3D printing was a hobby and he had decided to offer his skills to help the NHS and key workers.
He said the smaller Caithness group had received amazing support from all of the community, private persons and businesses. He added: "We've received a lot of donations which helps to order filament for printing and other things like elastic and acetate, so I can just keep printing, basically non-stop 24/7. For now our local group received more than 600 face shields orders and we are trying to make them as quick as we can."
He said he wanted to thank local communities in Wick and Thurso, as well as AGM Batteries Ltd, 3Dworldprints.com and others who were helping the project.
Inverness College UHI has donated a 3D printer to help the group and Ken Gowans, an art and design lecturer and local councillor, said: "There has been a significant rise in the amounts of individuals taking part across the Highlands, with great collaboration and integration of the creative, engineering and medical professions.
"This demonstrates the very real depth of talent and skills at Inverness College UHI and beyond, being brought together at this critical time to help the real heroes who are at risk on the front line. It continues to be a humbling experience for all of us."
