COMMUNITY: Mums' group helps thousands get cloth masks

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Thousands of islanders are now kitted out with cloth masks made by nimble-fingered islanders thanks to a Facebook group created by two local mums.

Lindi Lawrenson and Petra Leggett created their group in early April, as the ‘Masks4All’ movement was gaining popularity in Jersey among islanders and medical professionals alike.

Lindi’s husband, Consultant Paediatrician Dr David Lawrenson, was one of the key voices supporting the movement.

A short while after he released a video on the topic, the island’s top medical officer, Dr Ivan Muscat, officially strongly recommended that islanders wear non-medical fabric masks or other material face coverings while out in public.

Video: Dr David Lawrenson explains the importance of wearing a mask.

A supporter of the movement, Czech Republic-born Petra had already created her own page to encourage islanders to make their own masks before Lindi got in touch, asking to join forces. 

“We wanted to raise awareness and create a community around it,” Lindi explained. “We are all aware of how wearing a mask can be saving lives, the scientific evidence shows it slows the spread of the virus.

“We set up the group so that the community could connect and people could be sharing and giving masks to all others so that all of Jersey wears masks.”

Video: Lindi has created a tutorial to help islanders make their own masks.

Since its creation, the ‘JerseyMask4all’ Facebook group has grown to over 2,300 members with several requests being posted every day for masks. 

Hundreds of nimble-fingered islanders have been answering those, offering to make one or several masks for others, which is exactly what Petra and Lindi – who have both been creating masks for their families and islanders - wanted. In total, the pair estimates that close to 10,000 masks have been made.

“Every time I go on the group, people are so involved,” Lindi said. “There are lots of requests and lots of people are saying, ‘I can make one.'

“It’s really touching to see all the masks being done for essential workers, supermarket staff, teachers who are still working, care homes and people with illnesses. There are quite a lot of people prioritising for people who need masks immediately."

Pictured: Petra and Lindi estimate that close to 10,000 masks have been created through the group.

With more requests coming through from essential workers around the island, Petra and Lindi are keen to find more islanders who will be willing to make some masks.

“We really believe that our group is so important to slow the spread of coronavirus on the island and to help us out of lockdown,” Lindi said.

“The evidence is there that masks slow the spread and two people wearing a mask catch a large percentage of droplets coming out of their mouths that could potentially be carrying the virus. 

“The key for islanders to wear masks is to make sure that they are not buying medical masks as we don’t want to deplete the medical mask supply. And also, to keep their masks safe and clean, by only wearing them for a maximum of two hours, washing them thoroughly in hot, soapy water and ironing them with a hot iron.”

Pictured: Catherine Curtis, founder of BabyHub, has donated masks to local care homes.

Professional seamstresses have also been sewing for the community, including Denise of Needletweedle and Rachel Concannon of Rachels’ Textiles Studio, who is also offering packs for people to make their own masks.

Meanwhile, Catherine Curtis, founder of BabyHub, has been giving away face masks to local care homes after receiving nearly 500 as a gift from one of her business connections in China.