I got personally thanked by the Prime Minister yesterday and in the same breath he mentioned my home city, Coventry.
I’ve joined the huge army of NHS Volunteer Responders who have signed up to support NHS during the coronavirus pandemic.
At the point he did his press conference about 325,000 volunteers – the population of Coventry – had come forward. Now the total stands at over half a million and they were only looking for 250,000 people.
I’ve felt particularly useless – not being a keyworker, not living near older people and with my Dad already well sorted – so it feels good to be able to help.
This mass outbreak of altruism is also wonderful to see. When you exclude all those who are working, children, those looking after them, the elderly and ill 500,000 must be a very big part of what’s left of the population.
We’ll be supporting the 1.5m people in England who are at most risk from the virus to stay well.
There will be four main roles:
Community Response volunteer: This role involves collecting shopping, medication or other essential supplies for someone who is self-isolating, and delivering these supplies to their home.
Patient Transport volunteer: This role supports the NHS by providing transport to patients who are medically fit for discharge, and ensuring that they are settled safely back in to their home.
NHS Transport volunteer: This role involves transporting equipment, supplies and/or medication between NHS services and sites, it may also involve assisting pharmacies with medication delivery.
Check-in and Chat volunteer: This role provides short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation.
I’m now waiting to be vetted and to find out what, when, where and if I’ll be needed. You can join me and sign up here.