Snag Tights announce their new initiative to gift frontline NHS workers with free tights

THE award winning hosiery brand Snag Tights have announced a new initiative to gift frontline NHS workers with free tights. The scheme is open to all NHS workers, from Doctors and nurses to midwives, radiologists and ward clerks, who can receive the Snags of their choice in exchange for a snap of their NHS ID.

The 22 year old Scottish company launched the scheme to repay the extraordinary efforts of frontline NHS workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontline NHS workers can sign up for the scheme at:- SnagTights.com or by emailing:- Tights@SnagTights.com.

More than 12,000 NHS workers have signed up since the initiative launched last week, with thousands more showing their support on Snag's Facebook announcement.  "This is amazing. I'm frontline NHS staff and this has put a huge smile on my face after a long stressful day. Awww, love this. As a nurse who wears Snag Tights every day to work, thank you for supporting us." wrote 1 follower.

Brie Read, CEO and Founder of Snag comments:- "We're lucky enough to have thousands of amazing NHS workers among our customers, who have supported us over the past two years since launch. We know how hard the people behind our NHS work at any time of year, let alone during a pandemic. We wanted to find a way for us and all of our customers to give a little something back to all the people in the NHS who are doing such an incredible job for the country right now, so this is from Snag and our customers to say thank you for everyone our NHS workers do. We've already seen an overwhelming amount of NHS workers signing up, and we are excited for the scheme to continue to grow."

Snag Tights launched in March 2018 as an alternative to traditional tights that came in limited sizes and stretched only by height. Their size inclusive tights range from sizes:- 4 to 32 and have a unique sizing matrix; by height, dress size and body shape; that means they really fit. Made with super-stretchy yarns to ensure no snagging or sagging on a long shift, the size inclusive brand counts thousands of nurses and Doctors among their loyal customers.

The hugely popular brand has taken the market by storm and has sold over 1.7 million pairs of tights to date. Due to demand, Snag has expanded into 4 international markets and expanded their Livingston HQ 3 times in 2 years to keep up with sales.

University of Liverpool engineers use 3D printing technologies to produce protective visors for NHS

ENGINEERS at the University of Liverpool are using their expertise in 3D printing and laser cutting technologies to produce protective visors for use by local Hospitals. The protective visors, developed in conjunction with NHS staff at local Hospitals (including:- the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital Trust), use a hybrid design approach with a laser cut top section and a 3D printed bottom section. Laser cutting technology reduces the production process significantly from six hours to half an hour and local industry are helping to scale up production further. Staff and PhD students, based in the University's Active Learning Laboratory, are using their technical facilities and expertise to produce an initial batch of 50 to 100 protective visors per day, with the intention of increasing this to 300 per day over the coming weeks. The protective visors will be delivered to three Hospitals in the local Region in the next few days with other local Hospitals soon to follow suit.

Dr Kate Black, an expert in additive manufacturing at the University of Liverpool, said:- "Thanks to 3D printing and laser cutting technology, our team of engineers have been able to design a protective visor that can be produced in about half an hour. We have worked closely with our local NHS Hospitals on the design and now that they are happy with it our dedicated team of staff and PhD students from the university are ready to start production so that we can help protect our health services staff at this time of extraordinary need."

Dr Paul Fitzsimmons, deputy medical director at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said:- "I'd like to thank Dr Black and her team for all their amazing work in designing and producing these visors and not only getting them to our Hospitals so quickly, but for sharing the information required to make them with colleagues across the UK and help Hospitals access more of the equipment they need in the fight against Coronavirus."

Professor Louise Kenny, Executive Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool's Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, said:- "The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented global challenge, and staff and students across our Faculties and Departments here at the University of Liverpool are coming together in all sorts of ways to provide their expertise, facilities and innovation to manage, mitigate, and eventually stop this virus."