Schools across England are being asked to donate science equipment including goggles to be used by the NHS in a bid to help doctors fighting COVID-19.

School and teachers across the country have been contacted by NHS Trusts in a desperate bid to help frontline staff who are waiting on personal protective equipment (PPE) deliveries that still haven’t arrived.

Discussing the issue with The Guardian newspaper, Unsworth Academy’s Principal, Sue Armstrong, revealed that the Greater Manchester-based school had already donated over 50 pairs of science goggles since the outbreak of COVID-19.

“We are delighted to be able to help the NHS at a time when we all need to pull together,” said Armstrong. “Schools across the Trust are doing all they can to support national services during these unprecedented times and will continue to strive to meet the needs of our students, families and wider school communities.”

Other schools have donated equipment including goggles and rubber gloves, and while PPE used in schools falls short of medical standards, the consensus is school PPE is better than nothing.

“The first school I heard giving equipment was Huntington in York, who donated a whole bunch of personal protective equipment,” said David Weston, the Chief Executive of the Teacher Development Trust, a UK charity that works to raise awareness of the importance of professional development for teachers.

Weston added: “There are loads of people saying they are grateful for it. I wonder if there is a central approach to doing this.”