A.R.K Community Mask Tree

We’re raising £5,000 to provide reusable fabric masks for those who needs them. 

Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, I have been sewing reusable fabric face masks for the local community, using upcycled materials donated by friends and family, in addition to fabric that I purchased using my own funds. I started out back in February by sewing for keyworkers, non-profit organisations, various NHS trusts and for vulnerable individuals in my local and surrounding communities. I put on a mask, donned gloves and hand delivered batches of hand-sewn masks, scrub bags, hats and care packs to care homes along with 3d printed visors made by volunteers for Helpful Engineering UK and other supplies from the Community Champions.

Eventually, the word got out and my mask-making efforts eventually became a community project that brought many kindred spirits together to sew for the community, and together we have made thousands of reusable face coverings – over 12,000 masks to date and counting – of which I have sewn over 6,000 so far.

Back in June, inspired by efforts from mask makers in other parts of the country, I set up a ‘Community Mask Tree’ on my driveway, in order to help people in my community get access to face coverings for free if they couldn’t afford them, and provide the opportunity for those who could, to ‘sponsor’ free masks if they wished to donate in order to keep the trees going. Shortly after my first tree, and with the help of a wonderful network of neighbours, a number of other mask trees have ‘bloomed’ around Merton, Sutton, and Wandsworth, Lambeth, over the course of several months and many will be added onto the list.

It’s been a wonderful journey – the trees have brought people together in more ways than one. Our community has been wonderful – donating materials, masks for the trees, volunteering to cut and sew, and hosting mask trees every week. The trees themselves have inspired conversations and created connections between neighbours during this difficult and socially isolating time. And the money raised from the mask tree collection boxes then has gone towards making more masks to keep the trees going, and keep the forest growing.

But now, with the start of school, masks have been made mandatory for students at secondary school level, many of whom avail of free school meals, which are a crucial entitlement for children from the lowest income families. I would like to help provide these children with free reusable masks that they can wear to school, and need your help.

It costs £2 to make a two or three-layer washable mask, and my aim is to make a minimum 2,500 of these masks to specifically donate to schools. Please help me ease the financial burden on these students and their families, as well as reduce the use of disposable masks and the negative impact of their continued use on the environment. The donations collected from the mask trees have been really helpful, but if we are able to raise £5,000 for these school masks, we will be able to hire a machinist to increase our outputs and get these masks to schools much sooner.

I cannot do this alone, and need your support and help to make this work. Any donations would be very gratefully received and very much appreciated.

Definitely not just any ordinary tree , it’s an A.R.K tree , the one that carries people along in the journey, one that embarks with  Acts of Random Kindness.