Lets do our bit for the NHS.
NHS PPE Campaign.
A volunteer led project from Loft 25 in partnership with Green Lane Masjid & Community Centre
Because we wanted to say
#thankyouNHS
Our front line staff were without adequate safety wear and taking on the risk of COVID-19 all by themselves. We’re asked the nation to join us in making protective equipment for our wonderful doctors and nurses in our NHS.
About the campaign
Loft 25 & GLMCC
Loft25, a soft furnishings manufacturer, owned by Zhagum Arshad of Birmingham, has to date donated over 1000 PPE garments to the NHS, including various hospitals, hospices and GP practices.
The campaign began shortly after the lockdown was announced and key workers were in critical need of PPE. Zhagum and his 16 years old daughter, Aafreen, set up a campaign to produce free PPE for the NHS. They began with the support of 300 sewing volunteers. As the number of volunteers increased, Zhagum reached out to Green lane Mosque and Community Centre for support.
Being a long-term admirer of GLMCC’s community work, having collaborated with GLMCC for a successful Winter Homeless Shelter by providing a place to sleep and hot meals for 3 months, Zhagum was confident GLMCC would be vital in supporting the campaign.
GLMCC helped by increasing the number of volunteers, providing a lead project manager, project coordinators, admin, QA checkers, and over 150 delivery drivers who had been volunteering for GLMCC’s emergency food delivery campaign. Loft25 and GLMCC have officialised their partnership by using the campaign title: “NHS PPE Campaign by Loft25 in partnership with GLMCC”
Zhagum alone purchased material with no monetary donations. The material gets cut in his factory by volunteer cutters. The material then gets put into batches, the coordinators send out batches to available volunteer seamstresses, using volunteer drivers. Once complete, the sewn garments come back to the factory for quality checks and sanitization. Whilst production happens, requests for PPE flow in, once internal checks are complete garments are delivered to the NHS frontline staff.
Zhagum underlines the primary focus of the campaign was to get production of free PPE off the ground as quickly as possible;
“We must utilise all our strengths collectively to support the NHS. The infrastructure of the campaign has been set up and free PPE is being distributed thanks to our selfless volunteers. We are looking to scale up our production, expand our product range, and help other organizations across the country to set up their own campaigns.”
Over 25,000 garments worth over £400,000 donated to NHS frontline workers
This project would not have been the remarkable success that it was, without the help of many volunteers who volunteered their time and effort to put together and distribute over 25,000 garments of PPE which were donated to the NHS during the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020.
With their support we achieved the following;
· Over 25,000 Garments delivered to the NHS.
· Over 900 volunteers coming together.
· Over £400,000 worth of equipment supplied.
· Over 100 Recipients.