When Nigel Payne was furloughed earlier in the spring, his wife Amanda readily found a job for him.

“She told me about all the schools and companies making face shields,” he says. “I knew this is something I can do – I trained as a joiner. So, I ordered the materials and set up my workshop on the dining room table.”

Nigel Payne’s dining table is laid with face shields.

While many others making face shields have used a laser cutter or a 3D printer, Nigel’s shields are 100 per cent handmade.

“I made a jig with pieces of plywood and used a hot plate to heat up the plastic strips,” he tells. For assembling the pieces he used a hot glue gun and double-sided tape.

“I had a look at some designs online, but they didn’t quite work for the materials had at hand, so I made my own.”

Amanda Payne found a happy recipient for the donation: Oxford Health.

“I work for Barnado’s, who are affiliated to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Aylesbury,” she explains. The couple’s daughter Jasmin helped with assembling the shields and son Thomas delivered them to the trust collection point. The family gave hundred shields to Oxford Health and some more to local shops.

“I don’t mind who ends up using them as long they as they are needed,” Nigel says.

Just in time for the ‘family business’ completed, Nigel’s furlough is ending this week and he goes back to work as the operations manager at Envirotect. This company, based in Leighton-Buzzard, also makes shields but they are used for protecting people from radiation, not a virus.

A BIG THANK YOU to Nigel, Amanda, Thomas and Jasmin for their donation to Oxford Health!