Warwick and Leamington volunteers continue to help people during lockdown

Volunteers across Warwick and Leamington are continuing to help people during the lockdown.

The Warwick and Leamington Covid-19 Help Group currently has around 1,200 volunteers signed up and about 370 active volunteers.

The volunteers help with shopping, collecting medication or got a friendly phone call to help ease social isolation.

As well as this partnerships with shops and suppliers in the area have also formed.

Jeremy Pope, one of south Leamington's volunteers collects the weekly shop for resident, who's living in sheltered accommodation and is isolating due to ongoing health issues.

South Leamington volunteer coordinator, Emma Sparkes said: "This resident not only benefits from our shopping service, but also has her medication delivered too.

"The partnership between Coop and the Mutual Aid team has been a real game changer for residents, enabling them to order and pay for their groceries over the phone without having to try and get a delivery slot or pay for a minimum basket size."

The group has also only seen an increase in requests since forming.

A spokesperson from the Warwick and Leamington Covid-19 Group said: "In the first couple of weeks, we took 22 requests but our record week is 165 over the week of April 6.

"At the moment somewhere we get between 100 to 150 requests per week.

"We’ve completed 430 requests for essential support such as shopping and medication (so on average 71 per week over the past six weeks), and we have also made 128 social calls to individuals in need of a chat.

"In percentage terms, about 50 per cent of requests are shopping related and around 37 per cent are medication related."

As well as this, the group has WhatsApp groups split across three areas to help reach those close by requesting; leaflet drops so people know help is available; partnerships with organisations such as primary care trusts, Shielding Hub, Warwick District Council teams, charities and organisations to help support residents whose needs they cannot meet.

If anyone needs support or wants to volunteer they can go to https://warwickleamingtoncovidhelp.wordpress.com/ or email [email protected].

If anyone needs help and can’t get online, they can call 01926 674065 and leave a message and they will get a call back.

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