It's some time since we publicised anything about Project Shield, so we through that it would be a good time for an update.
To give you a bit of history, back in March 2020 the country was asked to go into lockdown to combat the spread of Coronavirus. However, many services had to stay operational and people had to be protected. There was a big focus on the use of PPE but it was in short supply.
At Church Crookham and Fleet Men's Shed we had the skill set and resources to try and help with this in the local community and so Project Shield was born. We started making full face visors and these were distributed initially to the care homes and care workers as this was a specific area that was struggling with PPE. We later went on to distribute to others as well. The project was always set up to be a stand alone project within the shed in that it should not detract from shed funds nor should the shed benefit financially from the project. The visors were distributed free of charge and we reached out to you our followers and supporters for donations towards the cost of materials. The response was astounding and we were able to manufacture circa 2000 visor sets, before the project came to a natural conclusion in September/October as by now the country had got its act together and PPE was more readily available from many resources.
The project has sat dormant for a while, whilst we observed what was happening. Even though we are now in Lockdown 3, the lack of PPE situation has not arisen again requiring us to restart manufacture. The whole situation has changed and there are now many other requirements that are COVID driven that need to be supported.
So we are pleased to announce that following a lot of discussion we have decided to distribute the excess funds that we received over and above the cost of the materials used to make the 2000 visor sets to the following other causes that are helping to support those in our local community who are struggling as a result of the COVID issue.
Those benefitting are:-
HVA Fleet Phoenix Hart Food Bank Rushmore Food Bank Phyllis Tuckwell KIN (Kids in Need)
We have retained a small amount for some materials to be used on projects to help support some of the local schools, as and when we can get back into the shed to make them. The Committee Church Crookham and Fleet Men's Shed Allan Walker