A Christian charity has made £194,000 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to religious and charity workers delivering vital frontline services. 

Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical disaster relief agency, has released the PPE kits alongside grants of £1,000, £3,000 and £5,000 for churches, charities and other organisations supporting their communities during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Each kit contains 100 FFP1 disposable face masks, 50 FFP2 disposable face masks, 100 pairs of disposable latex gloves, 100 pairs of disposable nitrile glove and two litres of alcohol-based hand sanitiser for the use of workers and distribution among vulnerable community members.

The kits have been put together in the agency's Oldbury warehouse to help community projects continue running in the face of PPE shortages.

Darren Tosh, UK Executive Director of Samaritan's Purse said, "Our experience in disaster areas around the world has taught us that during times of crisis like this, meaningful partnerships can be forged between churches and their communities.

"We want to stand in the gap for churches and organisations to help reach, and care for, as many people as possible who are suffering from the direct and indirect effects of the coronavirus pandemic."

He added: "The Church has an opportunity to boldly show compassion to their communities, and as many church workers are considered to be essential in working with the most vulnerable amongst us, they need protective equipment and funding to carry on their work."

Samaritan's Purse has been at the forefront of the coronavirus response in New York City, where it has constructed an emergency field hospital in Central Park. 

In Cremona, Italy, it set up another emergency field hospital to provide overflow support to the local hospital after it reached full capacity.