Kindertons employee producing vital PPE masks for frontline workers

As the demand for COVID-19 PPE continues to soar, one Kindertons employee has committed to providing thousands of masks for the frontline staff.

Andy McKechnie, our Scotland-based Regional Account Manager, has been working tirelessly to make Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with his partner Katy Cornes.

The couple, who have been using their own 3D printers to produce the equipment, have already taken over 1500 orders of masks, visors and ear relievers from hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes across East Kilbride, Lanarkshire and Glasgow.

Andy told us: “I had seen that a school in England had been 3D printing mask adjusters to donate to hospitals to help relieve the friction from the elastic on the back of the wearer’s ears.”

“I thought that this was an incredible thing to do, so I managed to source a model that had been signed-off by the NHS and proceeded to contact GP surgeries, care homes and pharmacies to see if they required the equipment.”

“I was happy to donate whatever I could have made with the materials I had, but I was inundated with so many requests that I decided I had to try and ramp up production.”

However, with manufacturing costs rising significantly since the start of the outbreak, Andy and Katy have appealed for crowdfunding to go towards the production costs.

“To try and extend the facilities that I could provide this vital equipment to, I decided to set up a GoFundMe page to help with the cost of materials.”

The page has received more than £6,000 in donations up to this point and Andy added that he and partner Katy have been ‘overwhelmed’ by the generosity of those who have donated so far.

Everyone at Kindertons is extremely proud of the efforts that Andy and Katy are going to in the fight against COVID-19.

If you wish to make a donation to support Andy’s work, you can do so here