BUSINESS NEWS
Bath ' s frontline responders recognised in Queen ' s Birthday Honours
Joanna Jenkinson , former Head of Infections and Immunity for the Medical Research Council and Ed Chudleigh , Designer and Manufacturer , have been honoured in the Queen ’ s Birthday Honours list 2021 . Both were awarded MBEs for their frontline response to the Covid-19 pandemic .
Joanna Jenkinson , 43 , was awarded her MBE for services to Covid-19 research funding .
In her former role as Head of Infections and Immunity for the Medical Research Council she oversaw an annual budget of c .£ 35 million in core investments and response mode funding .
It was in this context at the Medical Research Council that she co-designed and delivered the joint NIHR / UKRI rapid research response initiative to address the Covid-19 pandemic , which ran from February through to July 2020 .
She launched the initiative ’ s first funding calls on 4th February 2020 , within days of the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern ( PHEIC ) on 30th January 2020 .
Joannna said , " I ' m completely over the moon with this award and at first I couldn ' t quite believe it . In reality , this is recognition for the efforts of a very small team at the MRC , NIHR and DHSC and for all the many people that have dedicated their working lives to medical research , working night and day to deliver the science that is helping life return to something that feels more normal and the treatments , vaccines and policies that have saved so many lives .
“ The research and innovation progress that has been made is astounding but in reality it builds on the foundations of decades of long-term investment in research to understand viruses , develop vaccines and prepare for an epidemic .
“ To have been involved , in a small way , in tackling Covid-19 was gratifying but I am also very conscious that I was not someone
working in the NHS caring for sick patients day after day , and without the research staff and trial volunteers in UK hospitals we would not have the treatments we now have ."
Edward Chudleigh , 41 , has been awarded his MBE for services to provision of Personal Protective Equipment ( PPE ) during the pandemic .
In March 2020 , shortly after the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK , he developed a prototype PPE face shield using readily available materials having received phone calls from several friends who are doctors in hospitals , desperate for equipment of acceptable quality .
Edward then formed a core team who were key to growing production to a larger scale . He soon received orders for thousands of units from hospitals across the South West and registered his company Foldall Ltd .
He commandeered St Michaels Without church in Bath , with the blessing of the Archdeacon of Bath and set up a production line in the church , attracting hundreds of local volunteers .
After a week , production demand had outgrown the space available and the company moved to King Edward ' s School sports hall in Bath .
Four weeks after starting the company , they had orders for over 45,000 shields and were producing up to 7,000 shields a day with next day delivery . Within three months they had shipped 80,000 shields . The PPE face shields have been delivered to hospitals , nurseries , care homes and GP surgeries across the UK .
The not-for-profit company was supported through donations . They still have some shields left over and Edward encourages any local organisations to get in touch if they need a donation of shields .
Edward said , “ Receiving this honour was completely unexpected . It ’ s only begun to feel real now that I ’ ve started being contacted by the press . For me , this recognition is all about the core Foldall team and the hundreds of amazing people who got behind the initiative .
“ This project started in the basement of my house and without the wider team ’ s efforts we would not have achieved all that we did . This award is a result of teamwork , it took a lot of collaborative time , co-ordination and effort . I can ’ t thank everyone who supported me and Foldall enough .
“ I haven ’ t been given a date for going up to Buckingham Palace to receive my MBE yet but I ’ m very excited and can ’ t wait to celebrate with friends and family . Anyone who was involved or supported Foldall should raise a glass to themselves and be proud of the amazing effort they made , this award is about them and their efforts .”
Since ceasing production of the shields , Edward has been hard at work on a project he invented before Covid hit , called Genesis2 .
Genesis2 can recycle any type of plastic ever made and turns it directly into a product using essentially one machine . It ’ s a first of its kind , designed and made in Bath by Edward .
He is currently working on a trial with Duncan Glendinning , owner of Bath independent business , Thoughtful Bakery . He ’ s taking all of Thoughtful Bakery ’ s plastic waste and coffee grind and turning it straight back into products that can be sold in the Thoughtful Bakery shop .
Edward added , “ I ’ m very excited about the capabilities of Genesis2 and I ’ m looking forward to working with more businesses in the future .”
Any businesses interested in finding out more about Genesis2 can email Edward at : info @ foldall . co . uk
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