A charity drive by the Mail Group has passed the milestone delivery of more than 30 million pieces of PPE just one hundred days after the campaign’s first shipment to the Covid-19 frontline.
The news comes as Mail Force donations have exceeded £11 million from supporters and readers backing the distribution of personal protective equipment to the NHS and healthcare charities.
The Daily Mail has also reported that more than half of Mail Force PPE has been manufactured in the UK. Six million Yorkshire-made masks were delivered to the NHS during the campaign so far and 500,000 face shields have been ordered from a Doncaster-based printing company.
Mail Force has delivered over 15 million UK-made disposable aprons from a factory in Blackburn, 13 million of which have been supplied to the NHS and a further two million to charities such as the Salvation Army and Mencap.
Bluetree, a Rotherham-based manufacturer which produced the six million masks for Mail Force, previously printed marketing materials before the pandemic struck. After marketing sales collapsed at the start of the Covid crisis, the company invested in machinery to produce face masks in the UK. Following Mail Force orders, the paper reported that the plant has dramatically increased its hiring with more than a hundred staff working on PPE production over the weekend.
Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, thanked the Mail for its campaign and said: “The generosity of Mail Force will be hugely appreciated by all those who receive this British-made kit across the heath service.”
The Mail’s campaign has also seen over 10 million face masks imported throughout the campaign, which launched in April with a £1m delivery of more than 20 tons of protective coveralls and masks from China.
The campaign has seen backing from high-profile figures such as the Duchess of Cornwall, actor Dame Emma Thompson and raised its sights to increase donations with the launch of a television advert last month.
Mail Force was created with a £4m fighting fund, including a £1m initial donation from the Daily Mail, a £150,000 donation from Mail proprietor Viscount Rothermere and a further £100,000 from the Rothermere/ Harmsworth family.
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