Celebrating vaccine volunteers
Volunteers and clinicians who have helped to protect us against COVID-19 at Maidenhead Town Hall were treated to a special celebratory event on Monday evening.
The event was held as a ‘thank you’ to the hundreds of volunteers who gave up their spare time to assist with vaccinations over the past year.
Since the first dose was given to the most vulnerable residents on December 21, 2020, volunteers have assisted in providing more than 103,000 jabs to people from across the Royal Borough.
Helen Todd, 52, was involved in the first shift, and was contacted through the Magpies in the Community setup run by Maidenhead United FC.
“Everyone was quite scared, and we didn’t really know what the future held,” said Helen.
“It was a completely different place then.
“But what was so brilliant (was how) right from those first two shifts, the volunteers, vaccinators, doctors and everyone pulled together as a
team to support the public.
“It’s just been an amazing experience, it really has.”
Mother and son team, Sue and Scott Kitson, were two of the many volunteers who joined the vaccination programme at the town hall.
Scott, 36, said: “I joined as I wanted to give back and do something that felt like I was helping. I looked around, saw the volunteering opportunities and thought that it was local and an opportunity to help the community.
Sue, 67, said that she joined the team shortly after her son when a friend approached her about
the programme.
“I love baking, so my friend asked if I could bake some cakes for her shift one Saturday,” said Sue.
“They went down like a treat, and so I thought I would bake some cakes for Scott’s shift the following weekend, and it just developed from there.
“It became a bit of a running joke – someone asked if I was able to make them Bakewell slices, so I was people requesting what they wanted.”
Vaccinations can still be booked online at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviruscovid-19/coronavirusvaccination/bookcoronavirus-vaccination