STAFF and residents at the Royal British Legion's Dunkirk Memorial House have received a drop of 1,250 face masks and 250 bottles of hand sanitiser.

Volunteers from UK Mask Force (UKMF) handed over the PPE to the home at Sandhill, on the outskirts of Bishops Lydeard, which offers nursing and personal care, as well as short term respite care to the Armed Forces community and their families.

Home manager Anne Lewin said: "The Royal British Legion and all of us at Dunkirk Memorial House would like to thank UK Mask Force for providing us with additional PPE.

"During the Covid-19 pandemic the safety and well-being of our residents and staff is our highest priority.

"Now more than ever it is crucial that those who have served and sacrificed for us are looked after.

"This kind donation will help ensure we can continue providing critical support to those who are most at risk."

Antony Sainthill, UKMF director, said: "Many are very concerned for our frontline health care workers, and a lot of 'fake' PPE is being ordered directly or indirectly from overseas.

"With many contacts in the medical, military, procurement and logistics professions, we wanted to deliver a coordinated response to help hospitals, nursing homes and care providers with the right quality and quantity of PPE."

So far the not-for-profit organisation has delivered more than 14,000 masks and sanitisers to various health facilities across the UK.

Fellow director William Ralston-Saul said: "UK Mask Force made a very successful visit on Monday to the Royal British Legion Care Home, Dunkirk Memorial House, to deliver a large quantity of masks and bottles of hand sanitisers.

"Mask Force is a charity operated primarily by former servicemen who have been supplying PPE to care homes and NHS doctors' practises throughout the country.

"Several former servicemen, led by Lieutenant General Louis Lillywhite, the former surgeon general of the British Armed Forces, turned up for the handover of PPE.

"Wearing regimental berets and medals it was a moving event outside Dunkirk House in the home's splendid grounds."