29/7/20
A community project to produce uniform for health workers during the coronavirus crisis has seen staff and volunteers from a community learning and arts venue in the city stitching together their time, skills and expertise to support the NHS.

Tutors, learners and centre staff at Llanover Hall Arts Centre in Canton were joined by members of the public to form a 45-strong operation making scrubs for nurses, doctors and other NHS staff.

The initiative came about after Ysgol Plasmawr Head of Technology, Nia Clements, contacted Welsh Government to offer help for the COVID-19 effort and appealed for volunteers to support the project on Facebook. Llanover Hall centre manager, John Hobson, and admin assistant, Gaynor Robinson, responded, offering the centre as one of the hubs for making the uniforms.

Over recent weeks, the team have been busy using their sewing skills to produce 591 tunics with material provided by Alexandra Workwear and funded by Welsh Government.The Llanover Hall Charitable Trust, and donations from two generous supporters, Helen Lloyd Jones and Margaret le Grice, provided funding to the centre for three new overlocking sewing machines, ironing boards and irons.

Sewing tutor from the Council's Learning for Life community learning programme, Ceri Ring, supported the volunteers with technical details and instructions at the Llanover Hall workstations while other volunteers produced the tunics from home.

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry, said: "The Coronavirus crisis brought a real sense of community spirit and how we can help each through challenging times to the fore. This is a fantastic project at Llanover Hall and my thanks go to everyone involved - both staff and members of the public, whose efforts have gone a long way to keeping our dedicated NHS staff protected as they work."

Volunteer, Irene Read, said: "I'm a practical person who has enjoyed sewing all my adult life. The need for extra scrubs uniforms seemed like a way I could help out the medical staff, at a great distance, as they combated the Covid virus.

"I hope the medical staff who wear these tunics sense the respect myself and the other ladies of the "Tunic Brigade", Cardiff feel that spurred us to volunteer for this project."