Merseyside celebrities including Jamie Carragher, Johnny Vegas and David Price will next week join forces with local teachers, businesses and volunteers to raise vital funds for Merseyside PPE Hub, the voluntary group producing life-saving PPE visors for the region’s key workers during the coronavirus crisis.
On Thursday 21 May participants will collectively run the distance from the PPE Hub at Wavertree Technology Park to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester and back again, by running laps around the Merseyside PPE Hub car park. That’s 66 miles covered by 48 runners, 1 runner at a time, over a 12-hour fundraising effort!
Other special guests include former Liverpool players Ste Warnock, John Aldridge and Chris Kirkland. Local hero Andy Grant, popular comedian Paul Smith and singer songwriter Jamie Webster are also taking part in the event.
The event is sponsored by Liverpool business Aughton Automation, which specialises in consultancy, design, manufacture, installation, commissioning and maintenance services to the utilities and industrial sectors.
The Merseyside PPE Hub partnership produces and distribute life-saving Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for health and social care workers on the front line of the fight against Covid-19. Since the crisis began, the partnership has produced and distributed more than 35,000 visors, hundreds of scrubs and more than 6,000 face masks around the region.
Merseyside PPE Hub’s production operation is spearheaded by Lydiate Learning Trust (LLT), working out of Studio@Deyes at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool and comprising staff from specialist engineering college Studio@Deyes, Deyes High School and Childwall Sport and Science Academy. Well known Liverpool-based grassroots football group Fans Supporting Foodbanks works closely with Lydiate Learning Trust and other Merseyside PPE Hub partners to offer support with fundraising, logistics and distribution of the PPE. The group recently delivered 5000 PPE visors produced by Merseyside PPE Hub via the Fans Supporting Foodbanks network in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Yorkshire to key workers in those areas.
Another key partner in the Merseyside PPE Hub is Dave Connor of Optimum Group, which runs franchises of Costa Coffee and Kaspa’s branches in Merseyside and is currently working around the clock to produce vital PPE for frontline NHS staff and other key worker. And Samantha Taylor, a teacher of Textiles/MA Fashion Design and co-founder of Scrub Hub Liverpool is also on board, producing scrubs for healthcare workers across Merseyside during the crisis.
John Parry of Lydiate Learning Trust (LLT) says: “It’s great to see members and volunteers of the Merseyside PPE hub come together with Scouse icons to help raise money to manufacture even more PPE and scrubs.
“Laps For Lives was the brainchild of Tom O’Dowd, one of our PPE volunteers and a regular runner, who is missing out on competitive racing!
“We decided we would try to run the distance from the Hub to the Etihad and back following our solidarity tour to distribute our PPE via the Fans Supporting Foodbanks network in Newcastle and Manchester recently.
“Laps For Lives will allow us to raise money to continue supplying care homes, hospitals and other key workers with the PPE they need to do their job safely. So it’s vital we raise as much money as possible to continue our operation.”
Ian Byrne, co-founder of Fans Supporting Foodbanks, says: “The collaborative efforts of all within our group has been a joy to be involved with. Over 30,000 visors distributed across the country is an effort all involved should be proud of.
“Laps For Lives is another example of that solidarity – thanks to all involved in setting it up. I know it will benefit our frontline workers by creating more funds for PPE.”
The event is also in conjunction with the 23 Foundation, Carpenters Group Insurance Specialists, Agent Marketing, RTriibe and PT Construction.
More details on the work of the Merseyside PPE Hub partnership can be found at: https://www.merseysideppehub.co.uk/.
