Portsmouth News

How lockdown has defined the Hive’s invaluable work

Meet the team and volunteers behind Hive Portsmouth – the charity which armed our city to fight back against the pandemic

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When I asked the two chiefs of Hive Portsmouth what the organisati­on set out to do in 2018, both said they weren’t entirely sure.

While the concept – to create a strategic partnershi­p in Portsmouth consisting of a representa­tive group of the voluntary and community sector, NHS Portsmouth Clinical Commission­ing Group and Portsmouth City Council (PCC) – was set in stone, how it was going to work and grow was another question.

Vicar of Fratton’s St Mary’s Church, Bob White is also head of the Hive board. He explains: ‘If you asked us 18 months ago to describe to you what Hive was going to do, I think I would be honest and say we were still trying to work it out. Lockdown has, in a sense, defined the Hive and raised its profile.’

Hive Portsmouth is a registered charity, working hand-inhand with PCC and the local CCG, to create and support a vibrant, resilient voluntary community sector and encourage social enterprise. But one of its priorities is to let the people of our city know there is help available to them. Louise Wilders, chief officer of Hive, says: ‘We knew there were loads of people doing fantastic work in the city and loads of people who needed their support so it was a question of how do we join the two.

‘It was also about how to encourage people who have a good idea, passion or desire to provide help and support not to necessaril­y create something new but come and work with people already doing that.’

Hive compiled an online directory of more than 680 Portsmouth organisati­ons which could help families and individual­s.

During the first lockdown, the Hive team became inundated with volunteers, with nearly 3,000 people offering their services. In total, the volunteers provided more than £450k worth of labour. Bob explains: ‘Practicall­y and logistical­ly, the number of people who came forward was overwhelmi­ng. However it was not surprising from what we know about our communitie­s – that there is a genuine desire to reach out and support others.

‘The generosity of spirit goes beyond the giving of time. I am not shocked at the number of volunteers who came forward, I am proud.’

To narrow down what exactly the Hive does and who specifical­ly it helps is tricky because the list is far too wide-ranging to fit into this article. However during the past year, Hive and its volunteers were out on the streets delivering leaflets in their masses to let people know they were there to help, from shopping collection­s to essential transport services to appointmen­ts. Hive has organised 6,828 nutritious meal parcels for the vulnerable; conducted 15,200 well-being checks on the isolated and lonely; and delivered 4,593 prescripti­ons.

But Louise and Bob stress Hive could never have done it alone. Pompey in the Community; Victorious Team; Queens Hotel; Akash; La Casa Flamenca; Wild Thyme; Quattro Foods; COLAS; The Faith Community; Cultural Services at PCC are just a few who have provided crucial support and services.

Sam Brower, the managing director of Portsmouth-based food manufactur­er Quattro

Foods, says: ‘During the first lockdown, we had lots of food since hospitalit­y had to close so suddenly and other businesses in the same situation donated food to us. We used the donations and created hot meals which were distribute­d by Hive volunteers.’

Sam, who has donated £22kworth of food to Hive, adds: ‘I know for us and our staff, it was good for us to keep going and keep cooking during lockdown while making a positive impact in our community. I think Hive is a huge asset to our city.’

The city’s Sudanese community were offering help to primarily minority-ethnic communitie­s and soon joined forces with Hive. Representa­tive Maher Deyab, a taxi-driver from Portsmouth, says: ‘Food deliveries and donations is the main thing we organise but we are connecting with people, picking up shopping and collecting medicines. The Hive is great and the people are so nice.’

Jane Tume is the performanc­e manager at COLAS – the company contracted by PCC to care for the city’s infrastruc­tures. She joined the company’s forces with Hive and many COLAS employees were involved in delivering leaflets during the first lockdown. However Jane, 53, has single-handedly delivered more than 40 oximeters in the community. She says: ‘They allowed people to remain at home and be monitored by their GP instead of waiting in hospitals unwell.

For me, volunteeri­ng was a nobrainer.’

At 63, Sarah Lewis decided to come out of retirement and volunteer with Hive. She says: ‘I wanted to be helpful.’

Sarah now enjoys regular shifts at the Hive admin office. She says: ‘We are keen to retain this incredible voluntary sector we have tapped into for later projects. There is such a wide-ranging skill set.’

Looking to the future,

Hive wants to sustain the resilient and vibrant community sector. Chief officer Louise says: ‘I say community because those lunch clubs are vitally important because they signpost people to other organisati­ons and boost mental wellbeing. We have to ensure that it’s thriving in the future because it is going to be more important than ever.’

Bob adds: ‘Whatever the future normal is, it won’t be the same normal as before. We can contribute to conversati­ons about what a reshaped and reformed community will look like as we move into the rest of the year.’

I am not shocked at the number of volunteers who came forward, I am proud

We are keen to retain this incredible voluntary sector we have tapped into

 ??  ?? Main: The Hive team when it launched in 2018. Inset top: Jane Tume.
Main: The Hive team when it launched in 2018. Inset top: Jane Tume.
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 ??  ?? Insetbotto­m:VolunteerS­arahLewis.Left:Fromleft,LouiseWild­ers, Alison Barnes of Sweet Cakes Southsea who donated food, with Catherine Ramsay of Hive. Above: An example of food parcels organised by Hive. Picture: Joe Watson. Bottom right: Volunteers from the Sudanese Community Portsmouth, from left: Bashier Abdalla, Arafa Ahmed Galaleden, Maher Deyab and Abdel Karim Hamad. Top right: Martyn Pearce, from Pompey in the Community, organising food parcels . Picture: Joe Watson.
Insetbotto­m:VolunteerS­arahLewis.Left:Fromleft,LouiseWild­ers, Alison Barnes of Sweet Cakes Southsea who donated food, with Catherine Ramsay of Hive. Above: An example of food parcels organised by Hive. Picture: Joe Watson. Bottom right: Volunteers from the Sudanese Community Portsmouth, from left: Bashier Abdalla, Arafa Ahmed Galaleden, Maher Deyab and Abdel Karim Hamad. Top right: Martyn Pearce, from Pompey in the Community, organising food parcels . Picture: Joe Watson.
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