The social sewing workshop Vanhulley has been commissioned by the municipality of Groningen to make face masks
In addition, the company has received requests from healthcare to make headgear and aprons. As reported by the GIC.
Vanhulley is well-known in the North thanks to its ‘shirts to boxers’ scheme, where tailors turn worn-out shirts into brand new boxer shorts.
But during the current outbreak, Jolien Creutzberg (who heads up Vanhulley) was eager to change course and also wanted to make face masks, which are in great demand all over the world.
That turned out to be easier said than done, because you cannot just make mouth masks from random substances to protect against the corona virus: there are strict conditions that guide their production. Vanhulley had almost given up hope when a request came in from the municipality of Groningen. This was not about healthcare-quality face masks, but about protective face coverings for another department of the municipality.
“While it is gradually becoming clear that replacement face masks in healthcare must meet particularly strict requirements in order to offer protection against the Coronavirus, you can see that a shortage is suddenly becoming visible in other places. For example, the City Management Department of the Municipality of Groningen needs mouth masks to process waste, and the food production chain is also being pushed harder than ever, and other (less stringent) requirements also apply there. And we are now being asked from the healthcare sector to make headgear and aprons”, said Creutzberg on LinkedIn yesterday.
According to Creutzberg, there is so much work to do that she can needs volunteers, and for the first time men can also contribute to Vanhulley’s work.
“Until now, Vanhulley has only employed women. But that was only because we wanted to provide them with a safe working environment. Men are now also very welcome”, says Creutzberg.
It is difficult to indicate exactly how many people are needed to sew the mouth masks. “There is enough work for the time being. We have to organize it smartly after the registrations, because we have to keep up a 1.5M distance between ourselves.”
Vanhulley is located at Elkez at Peizerweg 128, Groningen. You can sign up to help here.
