Thought you might like this also, in the paper today, on community spirit and kindness, with ideas as well
Aid packs for the elderly as thousands volunteer for the home front
The Covid-19 crisis is unleashing public spirit
Martin Fletcher
Saturday March 21 2020, 6.00pm, The Sunday Times
Asiyah and Jawad Javed are using savings to provide packs of daily necessities to elderly people in Falkirk
Two weeks ago Asiyah and Jawad Javed found an elderly woman crying outside a supermarket because she could not buy any handwash or sanitiser.
The couple, who own a Falkirk corner shop called Day Today Express, decided to act. Using £2,000 of savings, the Javeds began putting together bags of soap, gel and masks and delivering them free to elderly people in the neighbourhood after closing time. They have since delivered more than 2,000 bags costing £2 each. Their supplier, United Wholesale, has contributed £1,000. Customers have donated several hundred pounds, too, and volunteered to deliver the bags.
Even the Javeds’ three children, aged five to 14, emptied their piggy banks and gave the money they had saved for a cancelled holiday in Spain. “The community has come together,” said Asiyah, who has been overwhelmed by the response.
It is not a lone story of altruism. Tales of people hoarding food and brawling in supermarket aisles obscure a different national narrative: that of a country pulling together at a time of crisis. We are rediscovering the spirit of the Blitz or the 2012 Olympics, and replacing the ugly divisions of Brexit with something akin to the “big society” that David Cameron tried but failed to deliver.
Eleven days ago Seren John-Wood, 24, a student at University College London, was unable to concentrate on a cognitive neuroscience lecture because of the constant coronavirus news updates on her phone. She took out her laptop and created, there and then, a leaflet calling for volunteers and inviting the old and vulnerable to get in touch.
That evening she posted it on the Facebook site of a friend’s new community group in Lewisham, southeast London, and it went viral. More than 1,800 Covid-19 Mutual Aid groups like Lewisham’s have sprung up in cities, towns and villages across the country.
Together they comprise an army of between 500,000 and a million volunteers who are delivering leaflets like John-Wood’s door to door to help those in need however they can. They shop, pick up prescriptions, walk dogs or simply talk to the self-isolated on the telephone — ordinary acts that amount to an extraordinary act of national kindness.
“It’s been completely incredible and massively inspiring,” says John-Wood. “What’s happening reveals how motivated people are to connect with those around them and show solidarity, especially post-Brexit where there’s a lot of division and alienation.”
The talk is all of social isolation but the opposite is happening, adds Kevin Smith, a de facto spokesman for the Covid-19 Mutual Aid movement. “It’s massively ramping up people’s interconnectivity in their communities in a way I’ve never experienced before.”
Similar examples of public spiritedness abound. The Feeding Britain organisation has amassed 1,000 volunteers for an initiative to feed 60,000 impoverished children who would normally depend on school meals.
The Made in Hackney community cookery school has raised £33,000 to deliver free meals to several hundred homes in the east London borough. From this week Egremont Primary School in the Wirral, an area of high deprivation, will use its school kitchens to feed at least 200 local children.
Ealing Foodbank in west London has lost more than 30 older volunteers but gained more than 50 younger ones. “There are all sorts of stories about panic-buying and how horrible people are, but there are also wonderful people doing what they can to help keep organisations like ours going,” said Janet Fletcher, its manager.
Asda is to give £5m to food bank operators FareShare and the Trussell Trust, with a package of measures that will provide four million meals to families affected by the virus. Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said she had been “overwhelmed” by the support.
Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North West, had 1,400 replies after calling for volunteers on his Facebook page last weekend. “It is incredibly moving how many are willing to put the welfare of others first and help in any way that they can,” he said.
Karl Wilding, head of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said charities’ revenues had evaporated as fundraising events had been axed. “I’m quite concerned we’re going to see some household name charities fail. It’s that bad.”
Charities depend heavily on retired volunteers who are now self-isolating, but younger people are coming forward to take their place.
British Red Cross has had more than 17,000 people sign up in 10 days, compared with 981 in the first 10 weeks of the year. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness thousands of people have shown by signing up to join us as community reserve volunteers,” said Mike Adamson, its chief executive.
Crisis, the charity for the homeless, enlisted 700 volunteers in 24 hours.
Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, which runs a network of 420 food banks around Britain, said her organisation had been “overwhelmed” by the support.
Some celebrities have stepped up to the mark too. Luke Barnes, the Game of Thrones actor, has raised £5,000 to support out-of-work artists in Liverpool. Wilfried Zaha, the Crystal Palace star, has offered NHS workers free use of 50 rental properties he owns in London, and Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s owner, has offered a hotel at the club’s Stamford Bridge ground. Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle, Stenhousemuir and Stevenage have set up programmes to support fans, as has Wasps rugby club.
Then there is the legion of individual good samaritans doing what they can to alleviate the hardship with small, simple acts of kindness in their neighbourhoods.
Nick Jones, 68, a retired City banker, is baking bread and making soup twice a week for the elderly of Wellington, his village in Herefordshire. Geoff Sacklyn, 59, a postman, is delivering food as well as mail to older people on his round in Clevedon, near Bristol.
And last week an unknown artist chalked a 20ft mural on the pavement outside King’s College Hospital in southeast London. Beside the NHS logo, he or she wrote: “Get well soon, everyone X.”
How you can join up and help your neighbours
Join the Red Cross
Sign up as a reserve volunteer to help your local community. No specialist skills are needed, the Red Cross will provide training. The only requirement is that you are over 18. reserves.redcross.org.uk
Volunteer at local food bank
In the weeks ahead, food banks will need extra volunteers to help sort and pack donations in their warehouses, collect donations from supermarkets and deliver food to those in greatest need. trusselltrust.org/get-involved/volunteer
Volunteering with Shelter or Crisis will help the vulnerable homeless
HANNAH MCKAY
Help the homeless
Rough-sleepers, who often have underlying health conditions and weakened immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to the virus, and have no ability to self-isolate. Volunteer with Shelter or Crisis to help. england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/volunteer, crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer
Protect women and children from violence
Victims of domestic violence are expected to be at heightened risk during the coronavirus outbreak. Refuge needs volunteers to staff its 24-hour helpline and support its team. refuge.org.uk/get-involved/jobs-volunteering
Give your time locally
Many local residents have set up “mutual aid” groups to help those most affected by the coronavirus and the need to self-isolate. Volunteers have been buying groceries for neighbours, picking up prescriptions and walking dogs. Check on Facebook or with neighbours to see if there is a group locally, or set up your own.
To join or form a group, go to covidmutualaid.org