With a little help from my friends

Alumni have been working to help during the Covid-19 pandemic in many different ways, showing the ingenuity and community spirit for which Aston is known.

THE MASK-PRINTER

“I’m a first-generation graduate who came to Aston on a full grant (when such a thing existed). I want other people to have the opportunities that I had, and not be blown off course by something unexpected like Covid-19,” says alumnus Rob Hornby. In April he gave an amazing founding gift of £10,000 to a new hardship fund for students affected by the global pandemic. Rob’s journey started at Aston Business School in the late 1980s when he studied Management and Computer Science, before completing his MPhil in Computer Science in 1996. He then went on to have roles in Old Mutual (Skandia), Sky Television before beginning at AlixPartners where he is currently managing director and chief digital officer. “I’m delighted to help students in a difficult time,” he added, “Aston opened so many opportunities for me, and I want to make sure as many people as possible can benefit from the same experience.” “So far the Student Emergency Hardship Fund has helped nearly 200 students to continue with their studies during the crisis,” commented Geoff Savage, head of individual giving. “The response from alumni has been exceptional." To find out more about how alumni support students in hardship, please visit www.go.aston.ac.uk An alumnus in the United States has been directly involved in the manufacture of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Philadelphia-based Aston alumnus, Simon Gainey (BEng Chemical Engineering, 1988) has been helping to solve the discomfort of healthcare workers from prolonged maskwearing. Elasticated masks can cause sore ears when worn all day, but following the invention (by Canadian boy scout, Quinn Callander) of a 3D-printed notched strap that sits at the back of the head, masks can be held in place comfortably. Since sharing the pattern on digital-design platform, Thingiverse, Quinn has enabled others to produce his ‘ear guards’, including Simon’s company, Hardworking Packaging LLC, which has been supplying both the Children’s Hospital

THE HARDSHIP FUND HERO

of Philadelphia and Temple University.

THE SWEATY SAVIOURS

Rob and fellow hardship donors aren’t the only members of Aston’s community to have contributed to the fight-back against Covid-19. Former Aston student, Ben Francis, and founder of global fitness apparel brand Gymshark, led the #NHSsweatyselfie campaign. For every “sweaty selfie” sent in by their customers and fans, Gymshark pledged £5 to the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital charities. Two weeks and over 35,000 selfies later, Gymshark donated an incredible £180,000 (split equally between the two charities) which has gone towards buying vital medical equipment. “Having watched my mum work at the QE [Queen Elizabeth Hospital] in Birmingham all of my life, I know first-hand how incredibly hardworking they are,” says Ben. “We admire the tireless work everyone is doing there and will do our utmost to support them, as they support us through this difficult time.”

THE PATIO RUNNER

Teaching fellow at Aston Business School, Paul Fleming, ran roughly 15,600 widths of his patio (the equivalent of a marathon) to raise money for Compton Care, where his sister-in-law Louise Pimm works as a palliative nurse. The Wolverhampton-based charity had seen funds depleted due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so Paul set himself a challenge. He had already planned to do a 10k race in the Highlands of Scotland that had been cancelled, so he thought he would run a mile a day for 26 days to see if he could raise £100 for Compton Care. Despite the constant turning on his patio being more of a strain on his knees and ankles than he had realised, Paul achieved his goal on May 9th 2020 and smashed his target, raising a total of £650. “I set the fundraising target low as I know a lot of people are being furloughed at the moment,” he remarked, “but the response has been amazing.”

THE CAMPUS HELPERS

Manjeevan Singh, a student on the Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme at Aston, responded to a call-out at his local hospital for Covid-19 volunteers. Meanwhile, technical staff in the School of Pharmacy manufactured and distributed hand sanitiser using a World Health Organisation (WHO) recipe. Staff also collected and delivered PPE and medical supplies for the NHS, something which technical manager, Jiteen Ahmed, found particularly rewarding: “My personal highlight, and one which meant a lot to me was the donation of PPE to our NHS friends and colleagues,” he wrote in a blog post about the experience. “As our laboratories were closed during the pandemic, we were able to collate supplies that we felt would be useful to the NHS. Technical colleagues collected PPE from across the University, along with medical supplies. These were all delivered to the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals. This was of personal significance to me as I was a patient of the Children’s Hospital and the Women’s Hospital has provided so much support to me and my wife, so to give something back meant a lot.”

THE PPE PROVIDERS

Gary Coombe (BSc Business Management, 1986) – CEO of global grooming at Procter and Gamble – has acknowledged the contribution made by P&G towards the manufacture of face shields, which have a plastic visor at the front. “For the first time since World War II, our Gillette HQ in Boston is making something apart from blades and razors,” he says. “We have repurposed our manufacturing operations to make a first batch of 100,000 face shields for healthcare workers in Massachusetts. “A dedicated group from across our organization has taken this from the call-to-action to shipping to hospitals in just 14 days. Another example of Gillette people stepping up to support our community through this crisis. We are all in this together and we’re here to help the heroes on the front lines.”