Durham Johnston Is Proud To Support The NHS

Durham Johnston’s ethos is based upon the importance of public service and the need to offer support to others within the local community. On Friday 27th March we donated all of our available protective goggles to Chastleton Surgery in Framwellgate Moor so that they could be distributed locally to NHS staff. In addition to those 447 pairs of goggles, we have also distributed food to a variety of local charities struggling for contributions. Our students and staff members have volunteered for a variety of roles to support the NHS in Durham too.

Last week we began to produce much needed PPE equipment. Gary Corkin, our Subject Leader for DT, and Helen Charlton, our Director of Resources, have co-ordinated this effort with a team of volunteers. They began production of protective visors on Thursday 9th April, and 70 are already in use in the Radiography Department of the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead. We are also taking PPE equipment to University Hospital Durham and the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington. In addition to the national design being used by schools across the country, we are also working on two other prototypes that have been directly requested by those working within the NHS. This includes the mask clip shown below, designed to ease pressure behind the ears of those wearing masks. A number of our staff members have relatives that work within the Health Service, or who are currently being cared for in hospital during this difficult period.

In 1952 Aneurin Bevan wrote that the NHS would be a success if ‘...the rich and the poor are treated alike, that poverty is not a disability, and wealth is not advantaged.’ The equal treatment of those who work and study at Durham Johnston is integral to our ethos and we are proud to be able to support other public servants working for the greater good in much more challenging circumstances. 

A J O’Sullivan

Headteacher

 

DJCS PPE Production