Almost 1200 Visors Distributed to Hounslow NHS

Fundraising Appeal continues with materials costing £1.25 each

OWGRA (Osterley and Wyke Green Residents' Association) and local police have delivered 1195 visors to Hounslow NHS group, which includes West Middlesex University Hospital and local GP practices.

OWGRA and Neighbourhood Watch have launched a fundraising appeal to supply these, directly working with a small group of volunteers who are running a number of 3D printers making them for workers in Surrey and Kent.

Lawrence Hawcroft, Vice-Chair of OWGRA updates us on the progress:

"We have also secured and commissioned a number of additional 3D printers to substantially increase the rate of production (as the visors are needed now). This has involved the team producing them clearing their dining room completely to give the whole of the room over to a number of desks and tables all now covered with 3D printers. Production is basically a 3-step process (produce visor frames; produce screens (in parallel); combine and box up for distribution). The picture above shows the frames after production and clean-up.

"They then go to another team who distribute them across Hounslow NHS via a number of contacts, with the local Police doing the last part of the delivery for safety reasons.

"Materials remain an issue and we are continuing to be creative as to where we source it (e.g. using a window tinting company to make some of the clear screens to fit to the visor frames). Also given the increased production rates we've had to refine our approach to support higher-volume production in some cases. The result of this has been to marginally increase the cost of each visor to around £1.25 each (materials only) - which is a price worth paying to get them to Hounslow NHS now".

Please donate to help protect our local NHS front-line staff via the crowdfunding page .

All money raised is funding materials and costs associated with printing. At the end of this project, any funds left will be donated to a charity that is associated with the aftermath of Covid-19 and requires support.

PPE equipment required by front-line staff includes a number of items, and one of the key ones is Visors, which consist of a framework for the medical staff to then apply a clear plastic Acetane sheet over the front. These do not need to be sterile as they are not used in a sterile environment; they are purely to try and stop expelled droplets being projected on to the person who is wearing the Visor. These visors have been effectively used all around the world and were designed by 3DVerkstan.

April 24, 2020