Selby College donates vital PPE equipment to local emergency services and care homes

Selby College has provided a significant number of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the NHS, Ambulance Service, Police and local care homes to support frontline staff in the fight against COVID-19.

Amidst a national shortage of PPE, Selby College donated a range of equipment to Selby War Memorial Hospital to support NHS staff, such as ward staff, healthcare professionals and community crisis teams.

PPE was also provided to other frontline services, such as Yorkshire Ambulance Service, North Yorkshire Police and two local care homes in Selby, Carentan House Residential Care and Osborne House.

Selby College Caretaker, Carl Burke, worked with departments from across the College to gather the PPE equipment from its science labs, as well its hair and beauty, engineering, construction and childcare facilities. This included 1000 pairs of latex gloves and 600 disposable gloves, 150 disposable aprons, 10 boxes of safety eyewear, 10 boxes of tissues, three bottles of disinfectant cleaner and two boxes of face masks.

“After hearing about the shortage of PPE for frontline workers in our local community, departments from across the College came together to gather as much available equipment as possible,” said Phil Sayles, Principal and CEO of Selby College. “A range of pieces of equipment were kindly taken to Selby Hospital by Carl Burke, where it was distributed out to frontline NHS workers, Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff and Police Officers at North Yorkshire Police, as well as local care homes. I’m extremely proud of the efforts of our staff and pleased that the donation was well received by all local authorities.”

Carl has also volunteered to support the NHS on behalf of Selby College, by helping to distribute essential medicines to patients in the local area.

Engineering staff at the College are also working to produce components for face shields using 3D printers, which can be provided to local healthcare workers.