London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 15, 2025

'We stand together': how students are helping NHS during coronavirus crisis

From making PPE visors to raising hospital funds, UK schools and universities are rising to the challenge

From university and school closures to A-level cancellations, young people have been deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, staff and students across the UK are launching initiatives to support both their local community and the NHS.

Harrogate grammar school, a comprehensive in North Yorkshire, has repurposed its design department as a PPE production line, and has made more than 1,000 visors so far.

Its headteacher, Neil Renton, said: “We’ve had parents who’ve been furloughed or lost jobs, who are ex-engineers, asking if they can help. We’ve not been able to support that as we’ve had so many staff members volunteer. I think it comes from an overwhelming desire from our teachers, who believe in public service, to make a difference.”

The visors have been sent to local hospitals, paramedics and GP surgeries, as well as alumni working on the frontline.

Jack Sheriff, who left the school in 2014, is a junior doctor on a coronavirus ward in the Midlands, and received a pack of six visors last week, stamped with the school’s emblem, the NHS logo, and the message “we stand together”.

He said: “It’s really nice to have contact with people from your past who helped you get to where you are, and who are still supporting you and thinking of you. It’s a bit of a blast from the past to be under that logo again, and nice to be using the visors made by the laser cutter I used at school.”

Schools are used to providing support for their more vulnerable students but since the crisis, extraordinary efforts are being made to help communities.

At Meadowfield primary school in Leeds, almost half the students are entitled to free school meals. As well as providing hot meals for families to collect each day, the school has sent out 145 food parcels containing enough supplies for two weeks, with the aim of sustaining vulnerable families over the Easter holidays.

The headteacher, Helen Stout, said: “The butchers we use as a supplier have offered to give us bacon and sausages, and the local grocers have offered to do some delivery for us. People have been really kind and benevolent, and it’s nice to know we’re doing our bit.

“It’s become a bit of a different role. It’s not just being head of a primary school, it’s managing community spirit.”

Alongside staff-led directives to support pupils, students are embracing initiatives to celebrate and assist the key workers around them.

At Thornhill College in Derry, many students expressed their fear and anxiety at the pandemic, many of whom had family and friends working on the frontline of the NHS. In response, the school asked for tributes to NHS staff to share on social media, and have been overwhelmed with the response. Along with the tributes, the school set up a fundraiser for their local hospital, with a target of £500 – a figure that has been trebled in just two days.

“It really has taken on a life of its own,” said Orla Donnelly, the vice-principal. “We’ve been swamped with people paying tribute to NHS workers, saying what they’re doing and why they’re so proud. Past pupils, teachers, mums, grannies and aunts are all doing it too.

“Our corridors are silent and classrooms are empty, it doesn’t feel right. It’s only little, small things we’re doing but it’s contributing to that overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the frontline.”

Medical students across the UK have been supporting NHS workers by babysitting for children, buying groceries, or driving them to work, as part of the National Health Supporters organisation, which receives between 50 and 100 requests for babysitting each day.

Fourth-year medical student Saif Khan set up a branch in Manchester where he studies, which is now helping about 25 families in the city.

He said: “When my course got put on hold, we had free time, and I thought we could help NHS colleagues, many are our teachers and mentors. I put a post on Facebook to our medical school society and within three days I had received 400 responses to be volunteers from not only medical students, but other healthcare students like nurses and speech therapists.”

Other medical students have been joining the NHS prematurely, taking a combination of paid and voluntary roles in hospitals to support the strained service.

“I’ve been at medical school for five years, and the last two years I’ve been in a purely clinical setting, so I’m familiar with hospitals,” said Phoebe Gray, a penultimate-year medical student who signed up to work at her local hospital in Bristol on the day her exams were cancelled. “It seemed silly just to sit around. It feels like we ought to be there when hospitals need us.”

On her induction day, Gray was joined by scores of other trainees from across the medical profession, from mental health nurses to paramedics.

She is now working as a nursing assistant in an intensive care unit, caring for a combination of cardiovascular and coronavirus patients – her first time working in a nursing role.

“It’s good to feel like a cog in a moving machine,” Gray said. “You do hear horror stories, but when you hear people clapping outside on a Thursday evening, it does make you proud. Obviously it’s worth it.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agents in Washington Charged with Assault – Identified as Justice Department Employee
A Computer That Listens, Sees, and Acts: What to Expect from Windows 12
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
UK has added India to a list of countries whose nationals, convicted of crimes, will face immediate deportation without the option to appeal from within the UK
Southwest Airlines Apologizes After 'Accidentally Forgetting' Two Blind Passengers at New Orleans Airport and Faces Criticism Over Poor Service for Passengers with Disabilities
Russian Forces Advance on Donetsk Front, Cutting Key Supply Routes Near Pokrovsk
It’s Not the Algorithm: New Study Claims Social Networks Are Fundamentally Broken
Sixty-Year-Old Claims: “My Biological Age Is Twenty-One.” Want the Same? Remember the Name Spermidine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
U.S. Investigation Reports No Russian Interference in Romanian Election First Round
Oasis Reunion Tour Linked to Temporary Rise in UK Inflation
Musk Alleges Apple Favors OpenAI in App Store Rankings
Denmark Revives EU ‘Chat Control’ Proposal for Encrypted Message Scanning
US Teen Pilot Reaches Deal to Leave Chile After Unauthorized Antarctic Landing
Trump considers lawsuit against Powell over Fed renovation costs
Trump Criticizes Goldman Sachs Over Tariff Cost Forecasts
Perplexity makes unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer for Google’s Chrome browser
Kodak warns of liquidity crisis as debt obligations loom
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Taylor Swift announces 12th studio album on Travis Kelce’s podcast after high-profile year together
South Korean court orders arrest of former First Lady Kim Keon Hee on bribery and corruption allegations
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
JD Vance to meet Tory MP Robert Jenrick and Reform’s Nigel Farage on UK visit
Trump and Putin Meeting: Focus on Listening and Communication
Instagram Released a New Feature – and Sent Users Into a Panic
China Accuses: Nvidia Chips Are U.S. Espionage Tools
Mercedes’ CEO Is Killing Germany’s Auto Legacy
Trump Proposes Land Concessions to End Ukraine War
New Road Safety Measures Proposed in the UK: Focus on Eye Tests and Stricter Drink-Driving Limits
Viktor Orbán Criticizes EU's Financial Support for Ukraine Amid Economic Concerns
South Korea's Military Shrinks by 20% Amid Declining Birthrate
US Postal Service Targets Unregulated Vape Distributors in Crackdown
Duluth International Airport Running on Tech Older Than Your Grandmother's Vinyl Player
RFK Jr. Announces HHS Investigation into Big Pharma Incentives to Doctors
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Security flaws in a carmaker’s web portal let one hacker remotely unlock cars from anywhere
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
×