One of this country’s best features has always been our ability to pull together in a crisis – and we’re seeing it once again in the fight against Covid-19.
Three quarters of a million people across England answered the Government’s call for volunteers to help support front-line NHS staff. In fact, there were so many that the Royal Voluntary Service have had to temporarily suspend applications!
I’m glad that I managed to sign up on the ‘GoodSAM’ app and am proud that members of my team have also stepped up to the plate. Councillor Katy Blunt, my caseworker, has been helping collect residents’ shopping and prescriptions, and I’m looking forward to doing my bit too.
But if you missed out and are keen to help, please remember that there are plenty of other opportunities both locally and nationally. My office is working hard to put volunteers in touch with local programmes that need support, so do get in touch and give us your details.
There are also well-established programmes, such as the Red Cross Reserves, which may still be admitting new recruits whilst the Royal Voluntary Service process the backlog in applications.
Meanwhile at a national level, this week ministers started to ship the first of 50,000 food parcels. These will ensure that vulnerable people, who may be less able to look after themselves in the era of self-isolation, will not go without the necessities of life.
The Government is also introducing a programme to make sure that children who were on free school meals receive a £15 voucher to ensure that they still receive a decent meal at home.
So far, at the time of writing, we have had fewer than 80 cases of coronavirus here in Solihull. I’m pretty sure that the number of people volunteering to help may currently exceed the number of patients!
But we must remember that even the optimistic predictions show that the hardest weeks are ahead of us, so the most important thing we can all do is observe the rules, avoid unnecessary travel, stay at home, and save lives. Let’s beat this together.
