Firms call for PPE donations for UK health services

Construction industry companies in the United Kingdom (UK) are banding together to source personal protective equipment (PPE) for the country’s health service workers, who are fighting to save the lives of people suffering with Coronavirus.

Demolition services provider Cantillon and contractor DE Group have launched the Contractors Appeal, in order to reach out to their competitors, peers and partners for donations of masks, overalls, glasses and gloves.

Paul Cluskey, managing director of Cantillon, said, “With construction works coming to an end as part of the process to limit the spread of Covid-19, all of us in the demolition and construction sectors have a duty and obligation to the communities that we serve.

“There are significant shortages for frontline staff in the NHS, GP practices and social care sectors. We are therefore encouraging the demolition and wider construction sector to retain a base stock of PPE, and make the rest available to those frontline services who need it far more than we do.”

With support from Diamond Marketing Services, the two London-based companies have launched the Contractors Appeal website, through which companies can send details of any unused PPE supplies they wish to donate.

These will then be distributed to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), care workers and other vulnerable groups across the country.

In a video posted on the appeal’s website, Paul Ford, Group Chairman of DE Group UK, said, “Please let us know what you have, what you’re willing to donate, in whatever quantity – large or small.

“We will log it and we will find people that need it in your area and make sure it goes to good use. It will make a difference. It will likely save lives but it will certainly make people feel more comfortable doing the job we’re actually expecting them to do on our behalf out there while we’re sitting at home feeling hard-done-by.”

The business leader said the construction industry had a moral obligation to help as much as it possibility could and encouraged companies to donate supplies, or funds for the purchase of PPE, to the Contractors Appeal in order to help the NHS.

UK companies wishing to donate should visit: https://www.contractorsappeal.com/