Duchess thanks NHS volunteers as she chats to isolated Doris, 85
THE DUCHESS of Cornwall has thanked thousands of volunteers who will report for duty to help the NHS through the coronavirus crisis.
As more than 750,000 people – three times the original target – signed up to join the “volunteer army”, Camilla checked in on an elderly woman who was self-isolating.
The Duchess, who has been reunited with the Prince of Wales after coming out of self-isolation herself, chatted on the phone to Doris Winfield, 85, from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, who has spent the last two weeks selfisolating.
Camilla, 72, tested negative for coronavirus, but isolated for 14 days after heir to the throne Charles contracted the Covid-19 illness.
While Ms Winfield has three
daughters who she regularly speaks to, she lives alone and misses her friends and the active social life she used to enjoy.
Ms Winfield said the chat with Camilla “meant the world to me”, adding: “I’ve been incredibly lonely over the last couple of weeks and it was wonderful to talk to her.
“We talked about life in isolation and shared hobbies, she was very interested in my family and how I was coping without them. It’s really cheered me up.”
The Royal Voluntary Service, the charity delivering the volunteer effort, will have completed checks for the three quarters of a million applications by the end of today.
Due to the huge response, the group of vulnerable people they will support in England has been expanded and they will come to the aid of 2.5m at-risk people.
Volunteers will be delivering medicines from pharmacies, driving patients to appointments, bringing them home from hospital, making phone calls to check on people isolating at home, and transporting medical supplies and equipment for the NHS.
Thousands of approved volunteers will be offered tasks from today via the GoodSAM app.