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Henkel UK and Ireland supports local communities and charities

Throughout these challenging times, Henkel business units, sites and employees are coming together to support organisations working to fight Covid-19 and help vulnerable people

Beauty Commitment Laundry & Cleaning Future Apr 14, 2020

As part of Henkel’s Global Solidarity Programme, local action is helping health and community organisations in the fight against Covid-19. Henkel teams in the UK and Ireland are playing their part.

Our Beauty Care Retail team has worked quickly to respond to many calls for donations; products and pairs of gloves have gone out to NHS trusts and charities.

More than 26,000 products went to various hospitals; The Beauty Bank, which is supporting NHS staff and key workers nationwide; and to The Hygiene Bank, which is supporting people pushed into poverty, particularly people who are self-employed and have lost their income in the crisis, people on low incomes and people off sick with no sick pay.

Products donated include shampoo, dry shampoo, toothpaste, shower gel and anti-perspirant. Feedback has been overwhelming and humbling, with NHS workers highlighting that the shower and body care products have been particularly useful when they come off shift and need to shower to prevent transmission in the community.

In addition, the business unit has donated 20,000 Black, powder-free, nitrile gloves with extra-long cuffs to the charities preparing the beauty product drops and to TESCO pharmacy front-line personnel.

Our Beauty Care Professional team has also been busy getting much-needed products out to hospital workers. 18,000 products (mainly shampoo and conditioner) have gone out to Nottinghamshire Hospitals; Kings College Hospital London; Coventry and Warwickshire Hospitals and the Hospital Heroes Campaign.

Our Laundry and Home Care business donated 21 pallets of Bloo, Jeyes and Parozone, which equates to 29,000 products, to a charity called In Kind Donations, which collates large donations from organisations and distributes them to smaller charities throughout the UK. Bloo toilet wipes, Foam Aroma and Bloo rim and cistern blocks, Jeyes Drain cleaner and Jeyes Fluid are some of the products donated.

Henkel Ireland Operations and Research has produced a trial batch of hand sanitizer to be used on the sites. The team has also been working with a company in Limerick, which is producing 10,000 face shields that will be donated to the HSE, the health service in Ireland. After successful testing, Loctite 401 proved to be the perfect adhesive to bond the foam to the face shield and a significant quantity has been dispatched, free of charge, to enable these shields to be made.

The potential for 3D printing to help produce parts that are in short supply to help in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 has been covered in the media. Around the world, parts are being designed and printed to supply equipment where global or regional shortages of devices and PPE occur. Companies and universities are coming together to design ventilators / ancillary devices and PPE, while ensuring that they comply with all necessary regulations.

Our colleagues from the Innovation and Interaction Centre in Ireland have been working with potential customers to supply PPE components to medical and industrial workplaces in Ireland and abroad. They have also supported universities and smaller projects with design and materials advice and have been able to use their network of connections to help small companies find local or alternative suppliers.

Furthermore, Henkel’s UK office has donated lab coats to Bucks Healthcare, specifically Stoke Mandeville Hospital which is located in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Read more on the global solidarity program which support employees, customers and affected communities here.