St John Ambulance in Gosport becomes a national hub for personal protective equipment (PPE)

In the last six weeks, volunteers at the branch centre at the Regents Trade Park in Barwell Lane, have processed, packed and distributed 7,500 overalls and 50,000 items of PPE to 32 locations around the country. The equipment is being put to use by front-line workers and volunteers including ambulance crews, specialist cleaners and first aiders.

The programme is being led by former army medic, Steve Eversfield, who spent 35 years in the armed forces.

Steve said: ‘To me this has been a bit of a journey back to what I used to do and in particular my experience deploying field hospitals to Iraq. The pandemic has been very much like that exercise in having to distribute equipment quickly and under pressure.’

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