THOUSANDS of items of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been delivered to care homes and hospices in North West thanks to the efforts of 20 Rotary clubs across Greater Manchester.

The PPE has gone to eight hospices and 22 voluntary care homes after the Rotary clubs in the organisation’s North West District (1285) chipped in just under £8,000.

Some 5,000 face masks and 520 visors are among the consignment, all sourced in the UK and delivered on May 1 by dedicated Rotary members, for use by care workers in the hospices and voluntary care homes in Bolton, Wigan, Salford, and Tameside.

In the Bolton area, the Rotary clubs involved were Bolton Lever; Bolton Daybreak; Bolton with Bolton le Moors; Turton; Horwich and Westhoughton.
Dr Swati Mukherjee, Humanitarian Services Team representative for the Rotary District 1285 and a member of Bolton Lever Rotary Club, said: “With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we could not sit idly by and do nothing.”

“The health and caring services are in dire need of this PPE equipment, especially in the care homes, and this was the least Rotary, ‘as people of action’ could do. We have contributed to hospices and care homes from north of the region in Chorley, all the way down to Chapel-en-le-Firth, High Peak Derbyshire.”
In Bolton, masks and visors were donated to Beechville Residential and Dementia Home, Horwich Mencap, Thicketford House, Mere Hall View, Bolton Hospice and in Chorley for Derian House Children Hospice.

Dr Mukherjee PPE also paid tribute to Barry Jones of Turton Rotary Club who transported PPE equipment to care homes and hospices in Salford and Tameside.
Debbie Brooks, Clinical Lead of Bolton Hospice, said. “We are so grateful receiving the much-needed PPE from Rotary.’’

Their work is not yet finished. Next week, Rotary’s North West District 1285 will be delivering 10-inch Samsung tablets to the hospices in Greater Manchester to aid communication at a time family visits are totally restricted and patients long to see their loved ones.

Dr Mukherjee added: “We have not forgotten our Rotary Covid-19 projects abroad either. We have sent £500 from our Bolton Lever Club fund, to ‘’Anandawan’’ - literally meaning, Forest of Happiness - a community rehabilitation centre in central India, for leprosy patients and the disabled, from the downtrodden sections of society.”

The money will be used to manufacture three layered face masks made from recycled textiles like quilts and saree material.

Rotary is one of the world's largest service organisations with 1.2 million members around the world.

Organisers are meanwhile urging the public to find a nearby Rotary club on Facebook or Twitter to see what they are doing to support local and world communities.