The varied delights of the arts world in Cumbria make a powerful difference to communities across Cumbria.

But with the coronavirus lockdown making that more difficult than ever, the owners of one arts venue have found a new way to make a difference.

John Parkinson and his wife Elaine, who run the Upfront Arts Venue in Unthank, near Penrith, have teamed up with Brampton business Jon Stynes Design and a small team of volunteers to manufacture and distribute thousands of protective face shields to healthcare workers.

In normal times, John and Elaine's days are taken up with running their vegetarian restaurant, puppet theatre, art gallery and live music venue.

For Jon Stynes, normal life involves designing and manufacturing commercial furniture and installations for customers as varied as one of London's giant Westfield shopping centres to Liverpool Central Library and many others.

But with the coronavirus outbreak worsening, friends John and Jon decided that they wanted to help.

Using their own funds to buy suitable materials, Jon set about manufacturing a design of his own using his fabrication facilities in Brampton.

Explaining the uniqueness of the project, which is producing recyclable, reusable face masks, John said: "They are made from two types of tough yet light, recyclable plastic which can be separated, and because we haven’t used elastic to keep them in place, the masks can be sterilised and re-used.

“We also came up with a child-friendly version featuring superhero designs that make them appear a little less frightening to children."

John stressed that the project is "very much" a team effort.

“There are ten of us including myself and my wife, Elaine, Jon Stynes and his team at Jon Stynes Designs in Brampton. Penrith Mountain Rescue Cumbria are also helping to distribute for us.”

The project has now supplied more than 10,000 face shields to frontline health workers across the country, including all the NHS hospitals in Cumbria, as well as four UK children's hospitals, including Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

The child-friendly masks have proven a hit at the flagship children's hospital. One of Great Ormond Street's senior recovery nurses, Annie Ebron, said: "The face shields are lovely.

"Patients are waking up fascinated with the new masks, they're making all the difference."

John added that the project is entirely non-profit, with a focus on providing as many face shields to as many health workers in need, as quickly as possible.

Production began just over a month ago, and to help keep it going, John launched a crowdfunding bid with an original goal of £2,000.

It has now raised more than £11,000.

John said the level of support for the project has meant a lot to him and the rest of the team.

“We are humbled by the kind support of our friends, community and those that wish to help the cause.

"As our project has developed, we’ve become aware of how huge the demand is and we now need the public and the media to help us to get our message out there and provide vulnerable front line workers with the PPE they require.”

“We are prepared for increased demand, having purchased an additional laser cutter machine. We also have a team of volunteers on stand-by to help us fulfil the orders."

Several days ago, Jon Stynes marked the 10,000 mask milestone by publicly thanking the nation's healthcare workers on social media.

He wrote: "We have now sent out over 10,000 medical visors to health workers around the country and we would personally like to thank them all for doing an amazing job.

"We would also like to thank everyone who has made a donation to help us make this happen.

"We will continue to produce the visors for as long as it takes and at the moment, there is still a great need, as we receiving requests every day.

"We will do our best to fund as many as we can by producing these at non profit, but we would be grateful with any help from donations."

One group helping to spread the good word about the project is the Family Business Network, an organisation dedicated to supporting family-run businesses across the north of England and the East Midlands.

Dave Clarkson, director of The Family Business Network said, “When we heard about John’s story, we wanted to help.

"As one of the worthy winners at our North West Family Business Awards last month, we admired the ingenuity and dedication that John and Elaine put into their business.

"They are clearly treating this cause in the same admirable way and we are here to offer our support”.