Kingfisher, the home improvement retailer whose businesses include B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama and BricoDépôt, is committed to supporting its communities and governments to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is critical for frontline healthcare workers.

Since the Covid-19 crisis hit Europe, Kingfisher and its businesses in Europe have ringfenced all their remaining stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) so it can be donated to frontline healthcare workers.

Five trucks containing protective eyewear and masks worth over £200,000 are set to leave its Trentham distribution centre near Stoke to go to the NHS’s Emergency logistics hub in the Midlands.

Kingfisher also confirms it has ordered a further three million face masks from suppliers in China and Israel that it expects to arrive towards the end of April. These will be for donation to the health authorities in the UK, France, Poland and Romania, or to equip colleagues who are facilitating our online and click & collect orders in stores.

Kate Anderson at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust which recently received a donation of P3 masks and goggles said: “Our staff are delighted to receive the masks and goggles which will really help to ensure they’re well protected in the coming days and weeks.”

Kingfisher and its retail banners B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France, Poland, Spain and Romania, have made the following additional donations to date, committing over £1m so far:

In the UK, B&Q and Screwfix have donated over £300,000 of PPE to the NHS, with more to follow. We are working closely with the NHS to donate these supplies to the hospitals and key workers where they are most needed and have already donated masks, goggles and visors to many large hospitals across London. Our B&Q stores have also been donating a range of other items, from paint to plants, where urgently needed by community organisations including hospices and care homes.

In France, donating over 2.5 million products including gloves, masks, glasses, visors and protective suits to Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), the network of hospitals in Paris, and directly given 8,500 masks to two large hospitals in Paris. We have also sent PPE to care homes for the elderly (EPHAD) in the East of France, one of the worst hit regions in the country.

In Poland, donating £200,000 of PPE products to the Ministry of Health and a network of hospitals across Poland.

In Spain, continuing to deliver gloves and goggles to local authorities and are donating £20,000 to the Spanish Red Cross.

In Romania, donating £45,000 to support ARC, the organisation responsible for leading the frontline response. We have also provided construction products for a municipal hospital.