20 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COMi INDUSTRY ISSUES
the danger of being in that crowd has passed. Already, there’s
talk of a producer with an existing feel-good show in storage
starting to cast it so it’s ready to go the moment things start
up again. And projection designer Luke Halls notes that he
and his team “have been quite lucky as the tours we have in
pre-production all wanted us to press on so they had shows to
work with when things get moving again.”Beyond the work, what about the country, the world, the
people? “I would love to think the world will change a bit as
a result of this,” says LD Tim Routledge. “What we’ve gained
for the first time in our lives, in a generation, is a chance to
reset ourselves, take a look, pause, realise what’s important.
On a big scale, I don’t think government will be able to hide
from funding the NHS anymore, and I think when everyone
starts earning again they’ll be more than happy to support the
NHS. On a more personal level, I’ve got my family, my home
and my dog and I’m being asked to stay at home to enjoy
them. When that’s also for the greater good, I’m more than
happy to do that for a little while.”For now: be careful, stay safe. With the sun out, it’s easy not
to believe this is real - if it was a movie, you’d expect green
clouds and eery smoke. Claypaky is based right in the heart
of the worst-hit area of Italy, where the danger is all too clear.
“There are many stories of relatives and parents mourning,”
notes the company’s Simone Capeleto. “The real lesson is
that exponential growth is not to be underestimated:
lockdown ASAP, the earlier the better.”PEOPLE POWERED OFFERS
SUPPORT TO NHSA team of entertainment technology
professionals have joined forces to form
People Powered UK in a bid to help
relieve the pressures of the NHS during
the COVID-19 pandemic.The initiative was started by LDs
Katharine Williams and Jono Kenyon
and has so far amassed 915 members
and counting from across the
entertainment and live event industries.
Williams previously worked on Crew for
Calais, a project that saw event
professionals build shelters for
refugees, whilst Kenyon has fi rst-hand insight into the
pressures of the UK’s health service thanks to his partner, an
ITU worker.A statement from People Powered UK says: “People are using
skills and ingenuity honed building festival infrastructure to
provide structures quickly and effectively, and sourcing
equipment from outside the NHS’s usual supply chain to
provide solutions to challenges hospitals are currently
experiencing. Production people already work with emergency
services and local authorities at SAGs, on health and safety,
and at planning meetings, so already speak the same language.”The organisation is currently building structures that will be
used for triage and isolation units at the Stoke Mandeville
hospital and also plans to deliver more infrastructure at High
Wycombe, Kingston, and Birmingham and Solihull hospitals.Members have also sourced over 3,000 walkie-talkie radios for
Homerton, Lewisham, Barts and Croydon hospitals, to allow
medics to safely communicate from areas with infected patients.
More trusts will be supplied over the coming days, including Royal
London, Imperial, Guys, UCLH and Royal Free. People Powered UK
is also providing tour buses to hospitals, transformed into staff
rest areas. The project has taken root in Scotland and Australia,
with dedicated teams now up and running.
P //peoplepowereduk.org
P //twitter.com/peoplepoweredPhoto: Masaaki Komori on Unsplash