Hugh Baird University Centre provides vital equipment for the NHS

THE Hugh Baird University Centre have recently been helping frontline staff in the NHS and wider care sector during the Coronavirus pandemic by creating and donating Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

By using the University Centre's 3D printing equipment, Engineering Lecturer, Kevin Donnelly has been able to print and construct fit for purpose full face visors. Students have also been able to get involved by using their Computer Aided Design skills at home and then emailing models for Kevin to experiment with.

A lack of PPE equipment across the NHS and care sector has resulted in reports of staff making improvised masks out of snorkels, buying kit from hardware stores and even using School science goggles to protect themselves whilst continuing to provide services to those in their care.

After 25 prototypes visors were successfully trialled at local Pharmacies, Doctor's Surgeries and at the Knowsley Resource Centre based within Whiston Hospital, a further 200 of the visors have also been distributed to local Pharmacies and Hospitals.

Kevin said:- "The College are supporting the local community in a variety of ways during this very difficult time and this made me think how my subject area could contribute and do their bit. It became apparent that we could assist in making visors for NHS staff, which staff are in desperate need of. Therefore, myself and my students set about designing the item and then printing them taking advantage of the College's equipment and facilities. Given the circumstances with social distancing, students were unable to assist in the physical printing of the visors but it was great to have them involved in the design process. It has been a pleasure to be able to give back to our NHS staff who are doing a truly amazing job during this pandemic."

Tina Blease, a Health and Social Care Lecturer at the College, is currently working at the Knowsley Resource Centre during the Coronavirus pandemic and was part of the trialling of the visors.

Tina said:- "The masks are fantastic quality and fit well on all of our staff as the headband is fully adjustable. This ensures they are well fitted and provide a good level of protection while we attend to the needs of our patients. The masks allow for our expressions to be visible to our patients and due to their dementia diagnosis, this supports reassurance and allows us to engage with them positively whilst protecting ourselves and our patients from the spread of Covid-19."

Rachael Hennigan, Hugh Baird College Principal and Chief Executive, said:- "I am blown away by the hard work of all our students and staff, this is a great example of how people can come together for the good of our community. I would like to thank Kevin and the team for working innovatively together to help support our fantastic NHS staff and others working across the care sector..."

Public asked to help record a week in lockdown

HISTORIC England is calling on people across the North West to share images that document their experience of 7 days in "Lockdown."  10 contemporary artists from across the nation, including:- Tristan Poyser in the North West, have also been chosen to produce special images over the week. From rainbows in windows and star jumps on balconies, Historic England is asking people in the North West to share images via their website that show how we are all facing the challenges of lockdown, self isolation and social distancing.

Running until Tuesday, 5 May 2020, the aim of the #PicturingLockdown project is to create a unique and reflective record of a week across the nation during this extraordinary moment in history. Historic England wants to spark a conversation about identity and its connection to history and place.

Claudia Kenyatta, Director of Regions at Historic England said:- "We are facing 1 of the most extraordinary moments in living memory. During this time of necessary lockdown restrictions, we are asking the public and some of our most talented contemporary artists to help us record history, whilst being careful to abide by the Government's social distancing measures. We want people to show us their experiences of lockdown, how communities have come together and life has changed for us all. These challenging times are encouraging us all to pause and reflect upon our relationship with our surroundings. We hope this project inspires creativity and reflection, allowing the public to create a unique time capsule for the future."

100 of the images submitted by the public and artists will be chosen to enter the Historic England Archive to provide a record for the future. Of the submissions from the public, the 50 most evocative, informative and inspiring images will combine with 50 works from 10 contemporary artists into a Collection. These will be catalogued by the Historic England Archive and will be made freely accessible online.

This is the 1st time the public have been asked to capture a moment in time and save it in the Historic England Archive of over 12 million photographs since the 2nd World War.

The 10 contemporary artists Historic England has also asked to take part in the project are based across the country. The artists are:-

► North West based Tristan Poyser is a photographer and lecturer with a background in Ecology and Biological Photography. His practice based research explores the physicality of landscapes, the legacy left, both as physical and cultural scars, that shape our behaviours, national identity and politics. His projects aim to challenge the viewer's perceptions through the medium of photography and often participation.

► The award winning Scottee, is an artist, writer and broadcaster from North London who proudly boasts no formal education. Self taught, he now lives and makes work in Southend on Sea, Essex. Across theatre, live art, public commissions, community activism and fine art Scottee's work is often about forcing difficult conversations for the greater good. His work is often centred around class, queerness, fatness and survival.

► Malaika Kegode is a multi disciplinary artist based in Bristol. Malaika's work tells of how we can find beauty and hope through the darkness. Her overall themes of family, mental health, addiction and love always have an undercurrent of optimism and strength. She has performed around the UK at a number of celebrated venues, festivals and poetry events. Her work is currently displayed on the exterior of the Arnolfini, 1 of Europe's leading centres for the contemporary arts. In 2018, Malaika was included in the The BME Power List, celebrating Bristol's 100 most influential black and minority ethnic people.

► Anand Chhabra is a documentary photographer based in the West Midlands with over 20 years' experience working in the arts. He is co-founder, director and the incumbent Chair of Black Country Visual Arts. His work focusses on engaging communities with little or no involvement in the arts with co-creative work and passing on new skills.

► Coralie Datta is a social documentary photographer based in Yorkshire. She is interested in the way communities function and her photographic work reflects this. She creates series of photographs representing the way communities connect with the environments in which they live, interact with and work. The act of taking photographs enables her to engage with and understand these groups of people and the social pressures that influence their lives.

► Based in London, Polly Braden features an ongoing conversation between the people she photographs and the environment in which they find themselves. Highlighting the small, often unconscious gestures of her subjects, Polly particularly enjoys long term, in depth collaborations that in turn lends her photographs a unique, quiet intimacy.

► Another Londoner, Roy Mehta is a well established London based photographic artist with 30 years of professional experience working on personal and commercial projects. His work encapsulates the complexity of identity and belonging and is regularly exhibited in the UK and abroad. Before Covid-19, a retrospective exhibition of his work was commissioned for Brent Borough of Culture 2020.

► Bella Milroy is an award winning photographer who lives in her hometown of Chesterfield, Derbyshire. She works responsively with found and archived material through mediums of sculpture, drawings, photography and text. She is also a portrait artist. Her work explores how we touch and make contact with the world around us, with the hand held being of particular significance. Using her personal perspective as a framework for a wider reflection of contemporary living, she makes work about making work (and being disabled) and not being able to make work (and being disabled). She is interested in the duality of every day existence, and how things can be both beautiful/painful, both interesting/dull.

► Based in the North East, Aidan Moesby is an artist curator working at the intersection of art, health and technology. His current work investigates the dual crises of Climate Change and Mental Health exploring the relationships between the outer physical weather and internal psycho emotional weather. He has worked, exhibited and curated nationally and internationally.

► Chloe Dewe Mathews is a photographic artist based in St Leonards On Sea. After studying fine art, at Camberwell College of Arts and the University of Oxford, she worked in the feature film industry before dedicating herself to photography. Her work is internationally recognised, exhibiting at:- Tate Modern, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Museum Folkwang and Fotomuseum Antwerp, as well as being published widely in newspapers and magazines such as the:- Guardian, New Yorker, Financial Times, Harpers and Le Monde.

Historic England is asking the public to keep to social distancing measures when taking part in this project and only go outside for food, health reasons or for work if you cannot work from home.