A RENEWABLES firm has donated 10,000 face masks to the NHS.

Scarborough-based Mainprize Offshore Ltd which supplies to the European offshore renewables industry has given 10,000 safety approved masks to frontline workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The firm had initially ordered the masks for team members aboard vessels but after hearing from a family member that Scarborough Hospital was in need of additional masks, Bob and Sharon Mainprize enquired about their own stock and found it met NHS safety requirements for donation.

Bob, co-owner of Mainprize Offshore, said: “We are in awe of the hard work and dedication of our NHS and frontline workers, both across the UK and closer to home here in Yorkshire.

“We’re grateful to have been able to show our appreciation by donating our excess supply of masks to those with a far greater need. While we have absorbed the cost at a time when small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges, Sharon and I had no reservations at all in doing whatever we could to support the efforts of the country’s frontline workers.

“We would also like to thank our own workforce for making this possible. Without their hard work we wouldn’t have been in the fortunate position to be able to make the donation. Scarborough Hospital has always held a special place in our family and my own grandmother was awarded a British Empire Medal for her charitable work at the hospital over 70 years ago. I like to think she would’ve been proud of our contribution to support the amazing work of today’s staff.”

Simon Morritt, chief executive of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are extremely grateful for the support of our local business and wider community, my thanks go to everyone who has made a contribution.”