Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Designer Behind Those Extravagant Costumes On 'The Masked Singer' Is Now Helping Make PPE For Healthcare Workers

Designer Behind Those Extravagant Costumes On 'The Masked Singer' Is Now Helping Make PPE For Healthcare Workers
PA Media - 3DCrowd UK

The costume designer behind the disguises on "The Masked Singer" has turned his talents to making personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers on the front line.


Tim Simpson nearly died from pneumonia in his 20s, so he knows the havoc diseases respiratory can reap on people's lungs.

So when lockdown was imposed, he took his 3D printer home from work and set about making face shields for healthcare workers, alongside volunteers from all over the country.

Now he is part of a network of 8,000 people across the UK making and distributing PPE equipment.

Coronavirus \u2013 Wed May 6, 2020A costume design for The Masked Singer (Tim Simpson/Plunge Creations/PA)PA Media - Tim Simpson/Plunge Creations

He runs production company Plunge Creations and designed all the masks for the hugely popular "The Masked Singer" UK, which was won by former Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts.

“It has been amazing. I have never been involved in anything like this," Simpson said.

“There's this sort of network of people who have never met face to face who are all working frantically to try and fulfill this need around the country."

Coronavirus \u2013 Wed May 6, 2020Tim Simpson working on a costume design (Tim Simpson/Plunge Creations/PA)PA Media - Tim Simpson/Plunge Creations

So far the organization has supplied 100,000 face shields to over 160 NHS trusts.

Simpson says there remains a huge demand, with orders placed for 600,000 masks in total.

“There are people working in hospitals who are being told that PPE is coming and yet they are coming to us because they are scared," he added.

“We have frontline workers who are just unbelievably grateful."

Coronavirus \u2013 Wed May 6, 2020A face shield made by Tim Simpson (3DCrowd UK/PA)PA Media - 3DCrowd UK

Simpson spoke about how he spent days in hospital in Newcastle due to his bout of pneumonia, and how the thought of going through a respiratory disease again scares him.

“It's a disease that gives me the willies because I know that I might not fair too well if it does get me," he said.

“I have just got to keep going, making sure other people are going to be alright."

To donate to 3DCrowd UK, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/3dcrowd-emergency-3d-pri...

More from News

Dr. Sandra Lee
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle/YouTube

'Dr. Pimple Popper' Star Reveals She Suffered Stroke While Filming Series: 'I Had A Part Of My Brain That Died'

It's already scary to witness a younger person go through a life-changing medical diagnosis, but it's especially jarring to see a medical professional, who presumably knows best about how to care for themselves, go through the same.

Sandra Lee, known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" on Lifetime, is well-known for her bedside manner, medical knowledge and ability to share her knowledge in an accessible way, and, of course, her unique approach to dermatological care.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rob Schneider; Elizabeth Banks
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Rob Schneider Dragged For Criticizing Elizabeth Banks' 'Dangerous Rhetoric' After She Called Out White Female Trump Voters

After actor and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks—who played Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games—called out white women who voted for President Donald Trump, MAGA actor Rob Schneider lashed out against what he referred to as her "dangerous rhetoric."

Those who've read the book and seen the film adaptation of The Hunger Games know that Trinket—known for joyfully announcing, "Happy Hunger Games and the odds may be ever in your favor!"—is a mistress of propaganda for a hostile government that forces teenagers to fight to the death every year to intimidate critics and keep society's poorest and most vulnerable in line. Trinket eventually embraces the rebellion.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kid Rock
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Kid Rock Dragged After Offering Massive Discount To His MAGA Festival Due To Abysmal Ticket Sales

Musician Kid Rock has hitched his wagon to president Donald Trump for quite some time now, and it seems he too is in the "find out" stage of that particularly exercise in FAFO.

It seems that when the president you form your entire personality around craters to a catastrophic approval rating even for him, your ship starts to sink too.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Driscoll; Tammy Duckworth
Cheriss May/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Army Secretary Sparks Outrage After Shutting Down Army Social Media Accounts For Honoring Tammy Duckworth's Military Service

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is facing heavy criticism after he ordered that all accounts associated with the Army unit "Soldier for Life" (SFL) be shut down after the unit shared a post on social media celebrating Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth's military service.

Duckworth is a double amputee who lost both of her legs in combat in 2004 when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Tom Homan; Pope Leo XIV
Fox News; Vatican Media/Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images

Trump's Border Czar Ripped For Hypocrisy After Telling Pope Leo To 'Stay Out Of Politics'

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was called out for hypocrisy after telling Pope Leo XIV to "stay out of politics" after he clashed with Trump over the widely unpopular war in Iran.

Last week, Pope Leo criticized the war and called on the world "to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything."

Keep ReadingShow less