Leominster volunteers help with coronavirus response

Leominster volunteers have organised a team of more than 90 people who are helping vulnerable people get food and medicine during the coronavirus outbreak.

Residents set up groups to galvanise volunteers as soon as the coronavirus lockdown came into force.

Town council clerk Julie Debbage helped coordinate them.

“As soon as everything started to happen there was a group set up called Leominster Covid-19 SOS,” she said.

“It was a group of people in the the town and I ended up going to one of their meetings.

“They had already set up a network of about 45 volunteers but had difficulty in getting someone to coordinate it and provide a phone line.

“That’s where the town council came in with Community Wheels, a charity that is based in our building that provides a bus service for people who need to get to various places.

“We joined up with them and supported them with the phone line and then it grew from there.

“There are 92 volunteers and we are the volunteer group, the town council, community wheels and Herefordshire Council’s Talk Community has joined in.”

She said they have put all their volunteers on a database and you can check them by road or skills they are offering.

“We’ve diverted the phone lines to our mobiles so that we can answer it remotely,” she said.

“We are working very closely with the foodbank.

“They’ve been amazing. They’ve managed to get food to all the families who are entitled to free school meals.

“So over Easter all their family had food and Easter eggs for the kids.”

Ms Debbage said there are quite a few vulnerable people in the town.

“We get calls from people who have got parents in the county they are worried for because they can’t come and see them,” she said.

“We have been able to pair people with volunteers and it’s worked really well.

“We are totally overwhelmed with the generosity of people in this town.

“The kindness and things people do. A lot of the volunteers have built up a relation ship with the people they’re helping.

“They just get on with it.

“It’s just started to settle down into a rhythm now. It spreads the load a little bit and things are getting easier.”

Anyone in need, wherever they live in Herefordshire, can ask for help with their shopping or medications being delivered should call the county’s Talk Community COVID-19 response team on 01432 260027.

Alternatively you can email them on talkcommunitycovidresponse@herefordshire.gov.uk