Shortage of volunteers after crisis ‘could hit community’
LEADING FIGURES in the community sector have warned that Yorkshire could see a drop-off in local services unless more dedicated long-term volunteers are found, particularly those with specialist skills.
The coronavirus pandemic has united the region and had people volunteer in their communities at levels never seen before.
However, as lockdown rules relax in many parts of Yorkshire and workers return to their jobs, members of the public are being urged to continue to volunteer to keep communities safe.
At the start of the pandemic, 40,000 people in Yorkshire became volunteer NHS responders and tens of thousands more helped in their communities, whether formally or informally.
However, many charities and community groups were not able to benefit from this influx of volunteers and could now struggle.
Lizzie Clapham, a volunteer development officer at Community First Yorkshire, has volunteered herself for more than 30 years.
She said: “We will come to a crisis where those organisations will be needing to find other ways to attract and recruit new volunteers. There hasn’t been the opportunity for those organisations to take advantage of these people coming forward.”
Long-term volunteers who are prepared to take on training and become more embedded in organisations are needed as communities start to recover, particularly in more challenging areas like those dealing with children or counselling.
North Yorkshire in particular had a strong turn-out of volunteers, with 1,576 active council volunteers in one week during the height of the pandemic.
North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Coun Carl Les, said the county was notable for its “resilient, generous communities”.
He added: “The kindness we’ve seen has been truly humbling.”
VOLUNTEER LUCY Currie is one of thousands of people in the region praised by the Royal Voluntary Service for stepping up to help in her community during the coronavirus crisis.
Ms Currie, normally a fitness instructor, has been volunteering with Hambleton Community Action during the pandemic.
She is one of many people in Yorkshire who found themselves with lots of free time when the lockdown began, and felt she could offer help to those who were who unable to leave home.
Ms Currie, who lives in Northallerton, said: “I started volunteering because my business is closed.
“I thought rather than sitting at home doing nothing, what else can I do?”
She has mostly been grocery shopping, telephone befriending, collecting and dropping off prescriptions, and even dog walking.
“It’s brilliant,” she said. “I think when you get situations like this, you can see the very best of people.
“Most people have at least one decent neighbour who’s been checking up on them, one lady I do the telephoning befriending with she lives out in Swainby, but she has got a brilliant neighbour helping with shopping.
“I normally speak to her for about an hour a week.
“She always says she’s got such lovely neighbours and that people just look out for each other.”
Rebecca Kennelly, director of volunteering for Royal Voluntary Service told
“It’s been incredible to see how people across Britain have stepped forward to help their communities in these difficult times.
“We have certainly seen a sharp rise in volunteer inquiries to support our existing work and were overwhelmed by the huge number of people who signed up to be NHS Volunteer Responders at the start of the pandemic.
“There are more than 40,000 NHS Volunteer Responders in Yorkshire who have put themselves on duty via the GoodSam app to support with roles from picking up shopping and prescriptions, giving lifts to medical appointments to making ‘check in and chat’ calls to people isolating and delivering hospital equipment.
“Covid-19 has certainly revealed a desire amongst the public to volunteer and we hope that once the crisis has eased many will continue to give their time.”
When you get situations like this, you can see the very best of people.
Lucy Currie, who has been volunteering with Hambleton Community Action.