Aviva donates ten 3D printers for students to produce protective masks

Authored by Aviva

A social media post from Warsaw University attracted our attention – it was about a grassroots initiative to produce protective shields for health workers.

Staff and student volunteers at the Physics Department lab, Makerspace, had the skills to produce protective masks using 3D printers. But they were faced with a problem: they lacked raw materials.  So, they made an appeal for help and Aviva Poland responded.

We donated almost PLN 50,000 (£10,000). This was enough to buy 10 additional 3D printers and raw material to produce 6,000 shields for doctors, nurses, paramedics and other frontliners in Poland.

The number of shields produced daily jumped from 24 to 300.

"Within a few days, the first few shields from our donation were made and protected the medical staff in action. The university sent us lots of photos of the healthcare workers using the masks. It's a positive message to students and academics, we just want to let them know that we are ready to help as much as we can and we are eager to support their noble initiative."  Magdalena Wrzesinska-Wypych, CSR manager, Aviva Poland

Support for customers and communities in Poland

Other initiatives to support our customers and communities in Poland include:

• Funding equipment for the Central Humanitarian Warehouse such as sleeping bags, camp beds, disposable tableware, tourist tables and chairs as well as hygiene kits and food supplies.
• Supporting the Polish Red Cross by buying essential equipment such as masks, goggles and special overalls. Individuals and teams across the business are also donating money to them. 

Every day, we are inspired by countless stories of frontliners all over the world risking their lives to help others and people coming together in whatever way they can across the globe to support communities. Thank you to all those who work tirelessly every day to fight COVID19.