The NHS is currently facing a severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, exacerbated by the interruption of supply chains from China.

My business normally produces corporate gifts and merchandise for the automotive industry, however following a drop in demand for our usual product line, we would like to turn our full production capacity towards supporting the NHS and all frontline key workers during the crisis by producing much needed face masks.

We do not feel that it is right to charge for this essential gear during a crisis and would like to donate these wherever they are needed, however given the demand for this type of equipment we do need help covering our production and staffing costs. In addition to keeping our own overheads covered during this difficult time will be offering work to self employed people who have fallen through the cracks of the govenements support package and found themselves having to rely on nothing but the woefully inadequate universal credit during the economic turmoil that is currently unfolding.

Our current production capacity is around 300 units per day, with production costs estimated at around £2.50 unit once assembly and packaging are taken into account.

Thank you for your support!

FAQ's that have been raised so far:

The £1000 goal was merely a base line to get us started. The more donations that are made, the more of these we can produce!

I have a meeting with St Mary's tomorrow (Monday 23rd) to discuss their requirements (some designs are not approved for medical use due to the difficulty of sterilising them, we will make sure ours is suitable).

As I understand it they will offer to reimburse any equipment donations made 'as and when the funds are available'. If/when those funds are reimbursed, we will put that money back in to producing more equipment for any other businesses or individuals that are in need of them.

I will be setting up a request form to allow any businesses or individuals that require these masks to order them, we will do our best to ensure that all requests are met however the NHS will take priority initially. No payment will be required, however a donation would most certainly be appreciated!

There's a lot of this going around at the moment, so I can understand the scepticism. I've used my real name, and my business name (Black Art Graphics). I am known to the local community especially around the Bembridge area where I am based. You can look us up, and under normal circumstances I'd invite you to come round to the studio, but that's sadly not an option at the moment!