WEYMOUTH band The Leggomen are holding a series of gigs to raise money to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for schools in Weymouth and Portland.

The Leggomen are a rock/country/indie group of five bandmates all from Weymouth and Portland. They have held a number of fundraisers since the lockdown started to raise money for charities including Dorset Mind and Weldmar Hospicecare, and each bandmate will be playing an individual gig this weekend, starting tonight.

In light of the Government announcing that schools are to reopen next week, band member Matt Taylor, a primary school teacher at St George's Primary School on Portland, thought that the latest fundraiser should be to raise money to buy PPE for schools.

He said: "Schools are suddenly going back and they haven't got everything that they need. They have not got enough hand sanitiser, no face masks and no infrared thermometers - nothing in the way of PPE at all.

"I thought, we've done enough charity work for everyone else so let's do some for primary schools. It is close to my heart as both of my kids go to St George's Primary School and most of the other band members have kids so they were quite keen."

The band has joined forces with Medisave, a medical supply store in Weymouth, to buy PPE at trade price so the money raised can go further.

Matt, 38, said: "I am doing the first gig and the money raised from that will go specifically towards getting PPE for St George's Primary School.

"The remaining boys are doing their gigs on Saturday and Sunday and the money raised during their shows will be used to buy PPE which will be divided between the local Weymouth and Portland schools.

"If we can raise a couple of hundred quid a night that would be fantastic."

The band members will each be live streaming their gig on The Leggomen Facebook page which has nearly 8,000 followers.

Matt added: "Everything has been pretty negative but music is always good for bringing some positivity back."

You can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sgps.