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Model students donate £700 to help fund protective gear for health and care staff

Thanks to fundraising efforts, spearheaded by arts and music venue SWG3, Kelvinside Academy is creating between 3,000 and 5,000 visors per day.

A donation of £700 from a group of S3 pupils at Kelvinside Academy has taken the total raised for the ViseUp fundraising campaign to £75,000.

The six pupils donated sponsorship money they had gathered for the Land Rover Challenge – a technology competition which sees teams from around the world design and build radio controlled four-wheel drive vehicles.

With the event cancelled, Finlay Spiers, Anna Craig, Kirsty Roger, Samuel Garcia Herreros, Benson Murray and Harris Burns - who go by the name 'Team Tyro' - decided to redirect the funds to help the school make PPE for health and care staff.

 Team Tyro have donated sponsorship money to the ViseUp campaign
Team Tyro have donated sponsorship money to the ViseUp campaign

Thanks to fundraising efforts, spearheaded by arts and music venue SWG3, the school is now creating between 3,000 and 5,000 visors per day.

Kelvinside pupil and Team Tyro member Finlay Speirs said: “Before we got through to the national final we discussed donating any excess funds to a local charity.

"The Covid-19 pandemic affects absolutely everyone and when we saw what Mr Miller was doing in our Innovation School we all agreed that this was where we wanted the money to go.

'Stay safe'

“If our donation can help all the doctors and nurses in our hospitals stay safe then I think that is a bigger achievement even than winning the whole Land Rover Challenge.

“We’d also like to thank all of our sponsors, Nevis Capital, Argyle Locksmiths, Dalziel, Richard Henderson, NRS Group and Noel Regan & Sons Building & Civil Engineering Contractors UK Ltd who generously agreed that their donations could be put towards this cause.”

Dan Wyatt, Rector at Kelvinside Academy said: “The team have performed superbly well to win the Scottish round of the competition and I know they were all extremely disappointed when the British finals were understandably cancelled.

 The visors are being made staff at several schools.
The visors are being made staff at several schools.

"To have reacted to that disappointment in such a mature and positive way is really impressive and encapsulates some of the values we expect from Kelvinside pupils.

“Their donation took us over the £75,000 mark which is amazing and we are very grateful to everyone who has donated money so far. The demand for visors is growing and not reducing and so we have increased our target to £90,000.”

Famous names including Frankie Boyle and Robert Carlyle have given their backing to the school and its network of partners.

The collective effort has produced more than 26,000 protective face visors for frontline health workers.

 

'Their donation took us over the £75,000 mark which is amazing and we are very grateful to everyone who has donated money so far.

'The demand for visors is growing and not reducing and so we have increased our target to £90,000'

Dan Wyatt

 

Staff and pupils have made the equipment with laser cuttings and 3-D printers at school and at home.

David Miller, director of Kelvinside Academy’s Innovation School said: “The support we have seen for ViseUp has gone far beyond our expectations.

"Through thousands of individual donations, we have been able to custom build and distribute more than 26,000 visors to hospitals, surgeries, pharmacies and care homes across Greater Glasgow.

“When we set out, we wanted to help frontline staff in any way we could and were always committed to keeping the production line going for as long as possible.

"However, with the support of SWG3, we have been able to gather so many generous donations which has allowed us to expand our operation in a way we never thought possible.”

 

 L-R School Rector Dan Wyatt and David Miller, head of the Innovation School with the protective safety masks being made at Kelvinside Academy Innovation School
L-R School Rector Dan Wyatt and David Miller, head of the Innovation School with the protective safety masks being made at Kelvinside Academy Innovation School

Following the outbreak of Coronavirus across the world, Kelvinside Academy transformed its onsite Innovation School into a production hub for PPE equipment.

The Glasgow-based school has received the support of SWG3 which is spearheading the fundraising element.

A number of other schools across Scotland are also supporting the efforts by producing PPE on their own campuses, including Larbert High School, St Luke’s Barrhead, Caldervale High, Denny High School, Graeme High School and Knox Academy.

To donate please visit the Go Fund Me page. For more information please visit www.kelvinside.org

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