“In moments of human need, we see the very best of people”
It felt a bit like a slow moving car crash. When the coronavirus took hold in the UK, frontline healthcare workers were quick to raise the alarm about shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). For some, there wasn’t enough to see them through a week, let alone beyond that. Only a fraction of the PPE needed by hospitals was being distributed, while care workers and support staff were left to source their own supplies.
Former teacher David Miller was quick to step forward with a plan. He’s the brains behind ViseUp+, an initiative in Glasgow which brings together a community of cutters, printers, makers and drivers to produce and distribute over 25, 000 PPE units every week for NHS frontline and community workers.
“The pleas on Twitter from healthcare workers struggling in Covid wards were the emotional catalyst for ViseUp+,” says David, who is Director of the Innovation School at Glasgow’s Kelvinside Academy. “On a personal note, because my own mum is in a care home, I felt an overwhelming responsibility do what I could to protect people looking after loved ones.”
Since early April, ViseUp+ has delivered PPE to over 800 different health-care settings across Scotland and the UK. That includes over 50,000 visors, some made by children volunteering to use 3D printers.
“An incredible group or people and organisations quickly coalesced around our efforts, including Kelvinside Academy, SWG3, Hydro-C, the Glasgow School of Art,” says David. “Together, we managed to source materials while setting up our GoFundMe page to raise the money needed.
“The orders are still coming in, and we hope that the continued GoFundMe support will allow us to carry on. GoFundMe provides an invaluable service in making the business of giving so much easier. All of our work has only been possible because of people’s innate generosity. There was such a powerful feeling of pulling together. In these moments of pressing human need, we see the very best of people.”
Every donation has enabled ViseUp+ to help meet the demand of PPE, and the initiative has even seen art created inspired by the off-cuts of PPE production. David says it is “truly humbling” to both witness the money pour in and to see the reaction of those the PPE is delivered to.
“Nurses, care home staff and pharmacists leave with boxes of visors feeling like it’s Christmas”, he says. “It is deeply moving to meet so many people working in such trying circumstances and to know that our efforts were helping.
“We have had so many lovely letters of thanks, but one that sticks in the memory said that they were overwhelmed by our efforts to design and manufacture the visors, and that it means more than we will ever know.”
ViseUp+ is just one example of the work being done by lots of people across the country to help support our healthcare and key workers. If you know of someone doing something remarkable to help during the pandemic please nominate them for The Independent’s Happy List 2020: Heroes In A Crisis.
It only takes a minute to nominate using this form. They might be a neighbour who goes out of their way to keep someone else going; a tireless food bank volunteer; an unsung saviour of animals, or the brains behind an innovation that makes lockdown that little bit more bearable. Whoever they are, and wherever they live in Britain, we want to hear about them. Nominations close at midnight on Sunday 14 June 2020, and the List will be published later in the summer.
You can donate to ViseUp+ here.
