A medical products manufacturer which has helped in the fight against Covid-19 is now helping the people of war-torn Ukraine.
Derby-based Pennine Healthcare has donated potentially lifesaving medical equipment to the Eastern European country.
The emergency donation includes face masks, dressings, bandages, sanitizer, gowns and other items, and has been sent to Nova Poshta – Help Ukraine – a Ukrainian delivery service, which will distribute the supplies to those most in need.
The team at Pennine, which is based in London Road, Derby, worked with Active Freight Southampton and Uniworld Logistics to arrange the shipment.
Pennine Healthcare chief executive Graeme Cameron said: “We are fortunate to work in an industry which has ‘purpose’ and the ‘protection of life’ at its core, and we could not stand back and allow a humanitarian crisis to unfold without us helping.
“We are an employee owned organisation and that gives us a unique position to help others first. We hope that this donation will help the people of Ukraine and we wish that peace comes soon.”
Last year the £25 million turnover business was sold to its staff – for an undisclosed sum said to be below its market value – through an employee ownership trust.
It saw Derbyshire Lord-Lieutenant Elizabeth Fothergill CBE, whose father Ivor Shaw set up the company in the 1960s, retire from the board and become a member of the trust.
At the time she said the deal would ensure Pennine Healthcare stayed in the city, while at the same time recognising staff for their hard work and keeping capital within the business.
The business makes single use, sterile medical devices and customised procedure packs for the NHS and wider healthcare sector in the UK and more than 50 other countries.
During the pandemic it won Government investment to make millions of face masks for the public and private sector. Two new production lines were installed.
A spokeswoman for the business said: “Medical supplies are critical to help those harmed by war and this support can hopefully be a small part in the relief efforts in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, and we sincerely hope that the situation is resolved quickly, with peace once more being restored around the world.”
To support the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, click here.
