Meet the Northampton grandmother proud to be part of volunteer sewing army for NHS heroes

A grandmother from Northampton is proud to be part of the country's army of knitters sewing items for NHS workers during the coronavirus lockdown.

Lyn Firman has made 30 sets of scrubs, 166 face masks, 79 uniform bags and more as part of the nationwide appeal for homemade personal protective equipment.

The 60-year-old mum-of-three from East Hunsbury said: "I'm retired and but I've been working more hours than I did when I worked!

"It's fun and has helped me through the lockdown so there's been no boredom for me."

Lyn started sewing after a sister at Northampton General Hospital asked her to make scrubs for them at the beginning of the crisis, so she joined the Facebook group, For the Love of Scrubs.

Through that, Lyn learned what patterns and materials to use, got her sewing machine out and got to work, with demand constantly increasing.

Lyn later joined the East Hunsbury Stitchers group and started to create uniform bags for emergency workers to wash their kit safely as well as masks.

"The coming together of people from all different areas has been amazing - they are doing whatever they can do," she said.

"It's keeping people occupied and giving them something to be a part of it and that's the thing, everyone wants to do their bit.

"We can't all be frontline doctors and nurses but we can do our thing behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning."

Despite the number of Covid-19 cases reducing, Lyn says the demand for PPE is just as high as more people go back to work and more protection is needed.

As well as gowns and masks of all sizes, Lyn has made less well-known items such as 'ear savers', which mean masks can be worn around the head instead of the ears.

Plus more than 30 sets of 'bonding squares', which help parents and their newborn babies who cannot spend much time together.

Her group has had requests from as far away as Melbourne, Australia, and from all walks of life, so she will keep on sewing for as long as she has to.

"I love it, I love the rhythm of it and the camadarie of the groups," she said.

"My dining rooms is like a cross between a sweat shop and a haberdashers!"