Cottage industry in Yorkshire provides protective clothing for health service heroes

A cottage industry of people working from home to provide protective clothing for NHS workers is emerging in a Yorkshire village.
Communities in the Yorkshire Dales are doing their bit to keep Britain safe from the coronoavirusCommunities in the Yorkshire Dales are doing their bit to keep Britain safe from the coronoavirus
Communities in the Yorkshire Dales are doing their bit to keep Britain safe from the coronoavirus

Rosie Brightman, from Addingham, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, decided to do her bit to help after a friend, who works for the NHS, had complained about the chafing around her ears caused by the protective equipment.

Ms Brightman usually makes children’s clothing but now produces headbands for NHS staff for free during the pandemic.

She said: “I stopped counting after producing 70 bands.”

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Ms Brightman has also helped Amanda Wardle, an independent midwife.

Ms Wardle said: “Quite a few local hospitals made the decision to suspend their home birth service in light of the Covid-19 outbreak. I was getting a lot of phone calls and emails from women - one of them was already over her due date and looking for alternative care.

“These women were desperate for help, but I needed to find clothing to keep them and myself safe from the virus. This is problematic when I am not part of the NHS. The biggest problem I faced was having to wait six weeks to find a suitable gown.

“But I made an appeal on social media and had lots of responses very quickly.

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“I was contacted by Rosie, who makes children’s clothing. She is part of a scheme to source materials so that local people can make scrubs for the NHS. Without the protective gown I wouldn’t have been able to do my job safely.”

Ms Brightman said the local civic society and three other local residents - her mother Sheila Benson, Fiona Maxwell and Linda Davies - are all helping to make protective clothes for the NHS. .

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