Government urged to make most of community mutual aid groups

SPONTANEOUS MUTUAL aid groups were “crucial” to the Covid-19 response in supporting millions of vulnerable people and both councils and Government should invest in their development, a new report has said.

The New Local Government Network think-tank has recommended ways that these groups, many which launched on social networking apps like Facebook and WhatsApp in the early days of the lockdown, can continue to support their neighbourhood.

Mutual aid groups took on tasks such as shopping and medicine delivery as well as offering emotional support to people who were vulnerable or shielding.

The Conservative MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, who wrote the foreword to the report, has now been asked by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to review how the

DANNY KRUGER: ‘We need a new recognition...of the latent capability of communities.’

Government can make the most of the voluntary and community sector in the UK’s recovery.

He said: “We need a new recognition by national and local government of the latent capability of communities and an expectation – incentivised and even mandated by policy – that we must make use of this capability.”

Key to the groups’ success was the involvement of working-aged people who were furloughed, and the report recommends introducing flexible working practices to give these people “more time to be better neighbours” as the pandemic eases.

The research also showed the small size of the groups was key, and they were able to act more quickly and have a more positive impact than big, Government-led schemes like the GoodSam NHS app.

In future, local authorities could support groups by coordinating volunteers or providing spaces funded by the Government, the report added.

Dawn Hirons, who founded the Howden Helpers group in East Yorkshire, said: “People have created bonds that weren’t there before – people who used to know one neighbour now know most of their street.”