Volunteer finds hope in humanity amid crisis

EVEN away from the NHS front line, millions are doing their bit in the war against coronavirus.

Whether offering to fetch shopping for a neighbour, looking after a key worker’s children or volunteering to help those most in need, people across Britain have responded by showing some good old-fashioned kindness.

Among them is British Red Cross volunteer Rukia Shepherd, 43, who knows all about helping out in a crisis, having already helped victims of the Manchester Arena bombing and Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017

As more of you sign up to join our Kindness Will Keep Us Together campaign, Rukia tells us how it’s done – and why it’s so worthwhile.

She says: “Someone said to me, ‘I bet you’re sick and tired of this’ – but I’m not. I take pride in volunteering.

“Things are so awful at the minute but showing people kindness can make a big difference – to us all.”

She is part of an emergency response team looking after vulnerable people across the North West, and works for eight hours a day delivering food and supplies to struggling families.

As we speak, she is queuing in a supermarket to collect shopping for people who cannot get out.

She has spent the day collecting PPE gear and delivering essentials to homeless shelters, sourcing a new walking stick for a disabled mum and arranging for a cot to be delivered to a mum who had nowhere for her newborn to sleep, as well as dropping off food parcels to vulnerable families.

It is late and she is tired, but she sounds upbeat as talks about her “brilliant” day. She says: “Seeing the look on those kids’ faces when I dropped their food off – laughing and all excited – that makes it all worthwhile. You know they’re going to eat well and be OK.”

She adds: “There are so many people who can’t get out, who

can’t help themselves right now – so if I can do it for them, I will.”

The primary school teaching assistant lives in Manchester with pharmacy delivery driver husband Howerd, 60, and their three teenage kids. She was working at a school where several pupils and teachers were caught up in the Arena bombing when

RUKIA SHEPHERD RED CROSS VOLUNTEER

Rukia helps with Red Cross the Red Cross appealed for volunteers. Rukia came forward to help comfort victims’ families at the Royal Oldham Hospital. She says: “Nothing prepares you for a scene like that. There was a deafening silence. As well as the families the staff were in shock.”

But even among the horror, volunteering brought her hope. “There was strength, kindness but most of all humanity,” she says. “I’d never experienced that feeling so strongly before.”

Weeks later the Grenfell Tower tragedy unfolded. “My gut instinct was to go,” she says. She spent two weeks looking after severely traumatised residents who had lost everything.

“I remember one man in particular,” she says. “He had lost his 14-year-old daughter and was too numb to speak. I struggled to not become emotional.”

Rukia is partly motivated by wanting to repay the kindness she was shown as a vulnerable young woman living in poverty and facing homelessness.

“Things weren’t very good for me, when I was about 20,” she says. “I didn’t know where to turn really.

“I went to the Citizen’s Advice and it was closing time. But the man there stayed to help me, he listened, made time for me when he didn’t have to.

“Because of that I got the help I needed and I’ve never forgotten that – it made me realise how important it is to help and to listen.”

Volunteering has also given her a sense of hope for the future.

“When I go out in my workwear people smile at you as though they are comforted by your presence,” she says. People have asked me why I put myself through this. Being there has led me to see not just the worst but the best of humanity.

“If I’m able to help then I will. If we all try our best and pull together things will be better.

“That’s the world I want to build for my children.”

Things are awful but being kind can make a difference

BRITISH Red Cross community reserve volunteers help in any way needed, from sharing public health messages to aiding the most vulnerable.

You don’t need special skills, just be happy to give your time. Five minutes will make a big difference. To donate or volunteer, go to www.redcross.org.uk/ kind or call 0300 023 0812.