Caring Broughton schoolboy Alfie makes face visors using dad's 3D printer

Alfie Philbin, 13, decided to put down the video games and spend his school holidays cutting much needed face visors to help with the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the health sector.

Proud mum Nicola said he had shown an interest in his dad’s 3D printer since doing ICT lessons at his school, Broughton High.

“He has always been into technology, and asked to use his dad’s 3D printer. It sat in his bedroom for a while, until I saw a post on Facebook from key workers asking for PPE equipment,” said Nicola.

“He said he wanted to help use the printer to cut face shields for people working on the front line who needed it, so he just began producing them.”

The need for protective equipment comes at a difficult time for the NHS, as hospital leaders still face rows with the government over PPE shortages across the country.

A cousin of the family, Joanne Moore, works at Royal Preston Hospital, and told Nicola that the face visors would be used by the staff at the testing pods at the hospital.

Alfie has now used an online template to cut and donate 60 face visors to those who need them, to continue safely fighting Covid-19 in our hospitals.

The process for cutting a face visor is lengthy, time that might have otherwise been spent playing video games or on their mobile phones by other teenagers during the holidays.

“Since he had chosen a design that he could cut with the printer, it’s been going all day. It takes around two hours to cut one mask with the printer,” said mum Nicola.

“I’m really made up for him. He wanted to help out by making these masks for those who really need it.

“It was great seeing the reactions on Facebook, lots of people were commenting saying that he needed to be congratulated for what he’s achieved.”