During lockdown I’m fortunate enough to be working from home doing my day job; supporting disabled & vulnerable consumers stay connected in their homes through vital communications services - You could call me a Disability Gamechanger, others might say it's my job, either way I love what I do! 

Outside of work I’m a keen Sewing Bee and during this Pandemic I wanted to do my bit to help others using my sewing skills.

Anyhow, I have challenged myself to make home-made reusable* cloth face masks and hand them out to people who need them the most when in public spaces. Researchers from the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, advises elderly and vulnerable people to wear a face mask on public transport, at the supermarket or in hospitals to prevent them from catching the coronavirus.  Whilst they say the evidence is not strong enough to recommend widespread use of masks by the general population, the country's chief scientist has said the current policy was under review. So to avoid there being another panic-buyResearchers from the  situation I feel that if us Sewing Bees work together (that includes buying your own materials) we can help people less able or fortunate to source their own supplies.

My aim is to get other Sewing Bees involved in making masks so that we can hand them out for free (my favourite word btw) at our local supermarkets chains and raise money for Scope at the same time. All I did was start making masks for my family & friends , approach the store manager as my local Tesco supermarket who agreed for me to hand them out as customers arrive/queue.  I'm also extending my reach to people most susceptible to catching the virus and it being potentially fatal; I'm referring to the Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic groups. 

So if you'd like to join me in raising money for Scope and also help the elderly, vulnerable & key workers feel that little bit safer when they're shopping, you could start making a stack of masks now especially if they're using something less suitable; in my view a scarf falls into the ‘less suitable’ category and could be more harmful if handled incorrectly once during & after usage and how many of us would wash that scarf at 40°, definitely not if it’s made of wool or silk!

In 'view Gallery' there's a step-by-step tutorial, pictures & what to inform people about how to wear, remove, wash & reuse their mask.  I've also uploaded some guidance if you do decide to make more and give out to people in your community i.e. workspace rules & tips on how to present them as it's important that they know that the mask won't slow down the spread of the virus unless it's used & handled correctly.

My reason for choosing Scope is that it's an amazing disability equality charity, campaigning relentlessly to create a fairer society and provide practical information and emotional support to thousands of disabled people and their families every day. There are 14 million disabled people in the UK, that's 1 in 5 of us!

*reusable if washed at 40° after every use, used correctly during usage and the existing Government rules are follows to the letter i.e. social distancing, washing hands for 20 seconds etc.