Ross can’t mask his admiration for helpers
FORMER Eastenders hardman Ross Kemp made masks as he hailed the massive volunteer army performing daily miracles across the country.
THETV host says helpers have brought the country together and the time for blame should wait until the virus is defeated.
Interviewed for his new BBC daytime show about volunteers, he said: “It’s been incredibly heartwarming how we have come together over this.
“This little country has a very big heart and we have rallied to the call, that’s for sure.
“It says a lot about this group of nations and what we can do to help each other.”
Ross, a veteran of a thousand episodes of Eastenders before a career as a documentary maker, listed many examples of people pitching in.
He said: “I met volunteers at a Sikhtemple in Southall who were cooking 2,000 meals a day.
“All for frontline workers and people in this area of London who needed a meal.
“Not just the Sikh community but anyone who needed it. Then there was Shin, a volunteer at
Slough Outreach organising 300 meals a day for those in need, for the homeless.there was a woman who hadn’t eaten for two days.
“I met a lady who was cooking 1,000 meals a day. Can you believe it – a thousand! All for people in the Southall area who needed a meal. Then there was another doing 600 meals a day for those in need, for the homeless.this is war and the volunteers are truly heroic.”
He gave an example of a tech school in Reading, which has been making 21,000 PPE masks a day.
Ross added: “Another school was making scrubs. Every night, the NHS would collect it.they were desperate for them because they were running out.”
THETV star said all ages are volunteering, revealing: “I feature two girls from Birmingham, aged eight and 10, who have written 50 letters to those in nursing homes with jokes. I just love it.
“You can’t put a value on this. Just imagine the impact that will have on someone sitting there lonely, with no one in their life.”
Ross, 55, believes this is a time to put aside any apparent shortcomings from the Government or elsewhere.
He said: “It’s too early to point the finger. Maybe on the other side of this, but not now.
“During the Secondworldwar they didn’t try to get rid of Churchill.they did afterwards but not during the war. Let’s beat the enemy first, and the enemy is Covid-19.we’re not over this.”
He said it was important to focus on the outstanding contribution of volunteers.
The awed presenter added: “There must be at least a million in the country. Isn’t it amazing that a design school can do the same as a medical company almost overnight?
“I was in a street in High Wycombe and virtually everyone along it was doing something, whether it was baking cakes or delivering prescriptions.
“These things make me think that something good will come out of these dark times.this programme has genuine heart.” ● Ross Kemp and Britain’s Volunteer Army, BBC One, May 18, 10am