Tipperary’s Socks for Soldiers volunteers are sewing face masks for Covid-19 frontline workers

An army of sewing enthusiasts has swung into action throughout Co. Tipperary stitching up face masks on their home sewing machines in the battle to defeat the Covid-19 virus.

The volunteer seamstresses, based in communities stretching from Burncourt to Nenagh, are members of the Socks for Soldiers group. 

They are part of a nationwide network of Masks 4 All-Ireland sewing groups making cotton masks for medical, healthcare and other front line workers. 

Socks for Soldiers was formed a month ago and is dedicated to supplying cloth face masks to Co. Tipperary people working on the  Covid-19 pandemic front line. 

The group is co-ordinated by a committee of volunteers who organise the sourcing of materials, logistics, contacts with clients and administration of the campaign. 

Socks for Soldiers founder and committee member Warren Beatty, from Coleman, Fethard near Clerihan, said the group's name is a  reference to the legions of women who knitted socks for soldiers during World War 1 and 11. 

“There are people at home at the moment insulated from the worst of the pandemic. They are twiddling their thumbs and want to do something to help. We are giving them an avenue to do that.” 

He said the team of volunteer seamstresses has grown to 30  in the space of a few weeks. They have so far supplied 809 face masks  to 22 nursing homes and two home help groups in  the county. 

Warren is one of 10 bike marshals collecting the finished masks from the sewing volunteers'  homes and delivering them to workplaces in the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Fellow bike marshal Brenda Cronin from Clonmel co-ordinates the collections and deliveries with the sewing, who live in rural areas like Kilcash, Burncourt and Clerihan as well as large towns like Cashel and Clonmel. 

Nursing homes throughout the county have been the main destinations so far for the Socks for Soldiers masks. 

The group's first order came from a Clonmel nursing home looking for 50 masks. The role of one of their volunteers is to liaise with nursing homes around the county.  

Warren said their masks as made from 100 per cent cotton material and are made to a pattern designed by Masks 4 All-Ireland founder Mary Murphy, a trained aeronautical engineer who specialises in designing support underwear for brides.   

Warren, who was an aircraft mechanic for 10 years and is now a plumber, regards the Mary Murphy mask pattern as technically the best face mask design around.  

He said it properly covers the face and is very robust. It can be washed and re-used and it contains a pocket where you can place a filter that can be as basic as a piece of kitchen roll.  You can also fit a disposable surgical mask in the pocket, which helps to prolong the life of the disposable mask. 

Socks for Soldiers was kick started with just an investment of €100. Many of the original sewing volunteers had cotton material at home they used to make their first masks. 

That material is now gone and one of the group's key tasks is sourcing and purchasing more material from fabric retailers. 

Warren said elastic material is very scarce at the moment because of the huge demand for face masks.  

“Elastic has become the new gold. We had to source it from Germany and it takes a week for it to come in.”

The Socks for Soldiers Committee has launched an appeal for donations to enable the group to continue purchasing material for the masks while the pandemic crisis lasts. 

The group is also looking for donations of printers so it can include information care sheets with the bundles of masks they supply. 

On behalf of the Committee, Warren thanked Robert Jones of Clonmel based firm VisionID for donating €500 to the cause last week and Modified Vaping for donating 50 bottles of hand sanitiser the bike marshals use while collecting and delivering masks. 

He also thanked Guiney's and Curtains & Blinds stores in Clonmel for donating fabric and D&M Seat Covers in Nenagh for donating 800m of elastic. 

 The Committee has set up the Socks for Soldiers account at Clonmel Credit Union where donations can be lodged.  

The Socks for Soldiers account at Clonmel Credit Union quoting reference is: 49208. The IBAN code is:

IE61CLEU99109010845680 and BIC code is: CLEUIE21. 

Anyone wishing to help out the campaign in anyway can contact the  Socks for Soldier group by sending a text outlining how they wish to contribute to (089) 2029422. 

“I think Socks for Soldiers will be something that will stay with everyone involved in it for the rest of their lives. They will be proud they were a part of it,” Warren told The Nationalist.